There are many mysteries associated with the famous Lake Mungo archaeological site in southern NSW that will help students to explore important issues about the Deep Time or ancient history or Australia. Some of these are: How old are the Lake Mungo people and how do we know? Why were Mungo Lady and Mungo Man buried in these ways? What was life at Lake Mungo like? What should be done with the Lake Mungo human remains? And many more. This new case study help students to understand what Lake Mungo was, and how it became what it is today.
An interactive entitled, Can you protect Lake Mungo, is also available for this case study.
The case study includes activities in both PDF and interactive web formats.
Case Study unit of work inquiry structure
ACTIVITY 1 A ‘virtual visit’ to the Lake Mungo
‘Visit’ Lake Mungo to learn about the discovery of the ancient burial sites and the environment that yielded these discoveries after some 40-50 000 years.
ACTIVITY 2 What is Lake Mungo and where is it?
Use maps to research more about Lake Mungo and the Willandra Lakes system.
ACTIVITY 3 When were the earliest people at Lake Mungo?
Use a timeline of the earth to place this mystery in the context of time and evolution.
ACTIVITY 4 How do archaeologists find out about the past?
Investigate the way archaeologists work using stratigraphy and the methods used to uncover and study the physical remains of the past.
ACTIVITY 5 Who were ‘Mungo Lady’ and ‘Mungo Man’?
In 1968 Professor Jim Bowler discovered the bones of Mungo Lady. In 1974 he discovered the bones of Mungo Man. Examine information about how they had been buried to see if you can explain why they were buried in these ways.
ACTIVITY 6 How were lunettes formed?
Investigate the formation and erosion of the lunette at Lake Mungo to better understand why the human remains were found where they were.
ACTIVITY 7 What happened to the megafauna at Lake Mungo?
When archaeologists studied the bones of animals they found at Lake Mungo and the Willandra lakes area, they realised that some of the bones belonged to megafauna. Investigate what happened to the megafauna.
ACTIVITY 8 What was life like at Lake Mungo for Mungo Lady and Mungo Man
Despite the archaeological evidence it is hard to know what life was like for the people of the lake. Examine Giovanni Caselli’s painting of the Lake Mungo people to get a better understanding of what life was like for the people who lived there in the ancient past.
ACTIVITY 9 Interviewing the Mungo people
This activity challenges you to use empathy – to go back to Lake Mungo at the time when Mungo Lady and Mungo Man were alive to ‘interview’ the people and then try to answer those questions using imagination based as much as possible on what you have learned about the Lake Mungo people.
About the Interactive decision-maker
Can you protect Lake Mungo?
Your task is to decide how to protect Lake Mungo National Park in 10 different scenarios.
