Discovered in 1998, the Marree Man of South Australia’s Far North remains an enigma. Like the Nasca lines and English hill figures, the Marree Man is considered a geoglyph–literally, earth drawing–and is the largest of its kind at 4.2km in height.
Following its discovery by air, a number of anonymous press releases appeared with descriptions of the Marree Man’s stature quoted in non-metric units (miles, yards, inches), leading some to believe that its creators were from the United States while others suspected that the press releases were part of a disinformation campaign. Another suspect is local artist Bardius Goldberg, but so far no one has stepped forward to claim credit for the earthwork.
Oddly, a few items have been recovered from the site, including a jar containing the US flag, satellite photo of the figure and a note referencing the Branch Davidians. Later, an anonymous fax tipped off officials who recovered a plaque from the site which stated, “In honour of the land they once knew. His attainments in these pursuits are extraordinary; a constant source of wonderment and admiration.” The quote is from a book containing information about local Aboriginal tribesman which the drawing is said to depict.
Once a tourist attraction, the Marree Man is quite literally fading from sight, as it slowly erodes. Let’s hope it doesn’t fade from our collective imagination before the winds sweep it away.
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