Marree Man

In mid-July 1998 a giant drawing of an Aboriginal man was discovered on a sandy plateau outside the town of Marree about 800 kilometres from Adelaide in the state's far north. It is the world's largest geoglyph (a manmade drawing cut into the earth). The figure is about 4 kilometres long and it is speculated that it was created by the removal of grass and shrubbery by a bulldozer or other large piece of machinery. The creators would have used Global Positioning System (GPS) technology for measurements and guidance.

Marree Man first gained popular attention when the publican at the Marree Hotel began receiving mysterious faxes about the figure and reported it to South Australia's daily newspaper, The Advertiser. An article appeared in The Advertiser on 15 July. Once reported, Marree Man drew many sightseers to the town. Members of the two Aboriginal tribes in the area were concerned about the damage cutting the figure into the land had caused and that which the influx of people might cause. Anthropology experts from the South Australian Museum claimed that the figure was not an accurate representation of the indigenous people of the area, but bore the features of a mixture of peoples and eras.

Theories abounded about who was responsible for the creation of the Marree Man, including Marree businesses which would benefit from the attention the figure drew to the town, American military personnel stationed nearby and eccentric Adelaide Hills artist Bardius Goldberg. Goldberg died in 2002, but in September 2006 several of his friends announced that they were certain that he was responsible for the creation of the Marree Man.