96 
A.W.R. Bevan, P. Bindon 
Locality unknown 
Artists from the Wirrimanu (Balgo) community 
of Western Australia have a tradition depicted in 
painting representing the fall of a 'star'. Brief 
accounts of the event are recorded and sold with 
the painting. The story recalls a 'star' that fell out 
of the sky into Lake Mackay. The story continues 
that 'the Rainbow snake came to this place and ate 
up a lot of people'. No large meteorite fall is known 
in the area of Lake Mackay. However, it is 
interesting to note that a line from Balgo projected 
through Lake Mackay passes close to the 
McDonnell Ranges and the site of the Henbury 
craters. 
Another Kimberley people, the Wolmeri, have a 
myth that Venus 'the star' came to Earth and left a 
stone in one of the horde countries (Kaberry 1939: 
12 ). 
In the myths of the Wheelman Tribe of the south¬ 
west of Western Australia, Hassle (1934) notes that 
they believed that in the Milky Way "one cluster of 
stars visited another and occasionally stars got lost and 
fell down to earth as we see them do even now". 
RECOGNITION OF METEORITES, AND 
TRANSPORT FROM THEIR SITES OF FALL 
Well-documented examples of the recognition of 
meteorites by Aborigines are listed below. In 
addition, there are numerous possible examples 
documented of transport of meteorites in Australia 
by human agency (e.g., see Buchwald 1975; 
Graham et al. 1985). Many of these are fragments 
of the Henbury meteorite that were found 
considerable distances from the site of the craters, 
and the occurrences of which cannot be accounted 
for by the processes of nature. To date, no 
conclusive proof exists that any of these meteorites 
was transported by Aborigines. However, that the 
meteorites have been transported by human 
agency subsequent to their fall is not doubted. 
Other examples are less convincing, although 
circumstantial evidence suggests possible 
Aboriginal recognition of, and interaction with 
meteoritic materials. 
Northern Territory 
Henbury meteorite (fragments found at Basedow 
Range, Nutwood Downs and Gallipoli Station) 
One of the earliest recognised examples of 
human transport of a meteorite in Australia was a 
mass of iron meteorite weighing a few kilograms 
found 6.5 km from Willbia Wells along the south 
side of the Basedow Range in the Northern 
Territory. The locality lies about 85 km southwest 
of the Henbury craters, and the meteorite was 
considered by Hodge-Smith to be one of the 
Henbury masses that had been transported by 
human agency, most likely Aboriginal (letter in the 
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, of 1 April 
1958 from R. O. Chalmers, Australian Museum, 
Sydney). Additional fragments of iron meteorites 
reportedly found at Nutwood Downs (ca. 15°49'S, 
134°09'E) and Gallipoli Station (ca. 19°08'S, 
137°53'E) have also been suspected to be fragments 
of Henbury (Buchwald 1975). Subsequent chemical 
analysis by Scott et al. (1973) and detailed 
metallographic examination by Buchwald (1975) 
has shown, beyond reasonable doubt, that the 
meteorites found at Basedow Range, Nutwood 
Downs and Gallipoli Station are all fragments of 
the disrupted Henbury projectile. When these were 
transported from the site of the craters is unknown. 
Several other genuine fragments of the Henbury 
meteorite have recently been reported from 
localities as far afield as Arnhem Land in the 
Northern Territory, and inter-state in Queensland 
(Bevan in prep.). It has also been suggested by 
Buchwald (1975) that the Nuleri meteorite found in 
Western Australia (27°50'S, 123°52'E) may be a 
transported fragment of Henbury, although this 
has yet to be proved. Other examples of 
transported fragments of Henbury are held in the 
collections of the Northern Territory Museum in 
Darwin (D. Megirian pers. comm.). 
Huckitta meteorite (Alice Springs fragment) 
In 1924, a 1084 g fragment of a rare stony-iron 
meteorite type (pallasite) was found by H. 
Basedow on the Burt Plains (23°33'S, 133°52'E) near 
Alice Springs. The so-called Alice Springs meteorite 
was described by Spencer (1932a). However, in 
July 1937, the main mass of 1411.5 kg, of which the 
Alice Springs meteorite is evidently a transported 
fragment, was located at Huckitta (22°22'S, 
135°46'E) surrounded by a large quantity of iron- 
shale representing the weathering products from 
the mass. (Madigan 1937, 1939; Megirian et al. 
1987). The Alice Springs fragment of the Huckitta 
meteorite was clearly transported by human 
agency prior to 1924. 
Evidence that transportation of the Alice Springs 
fragment by Aborigines may have occurred is 
circumstantial. Megirian et al. (1987) estimate a 
terrestrial age for the Huckitta meteorite of >18,000 
yrs and the deeply weathered nature of the mass 
on its discovery is consistent with prolonged 
exposure to weathering (Madigan 1939). Madigan's 
(1939) account of the discovery of the meteorite by 
Europeans suggests that local Aboriginals were 
previously well aware of the existence of the mass. 
Madigan (1939) had recognised the meteorite from 
a fragment that had been removed from the mass 
by Mick Laughton, a part-Aborigine employed on 
Huckitta Station. Whereas the Europeans on the 
Station were ignorant of the meteoritic nature of 
the unusual rock, the local Aborigines held the 
