Ancient landscape · records from 1820
A changing lake with a long human history
Lake George's human history reaches far beyond the colonial records that began in 1820. Archaeological research on its eastern shore has identified distinct stone-working areas dating to roughly 1,000–3,000 years ago. The researchers describe the lake as Ngungara, also known as Weereewa, on the traditional lands of the Ngunnawal-Ngambri people.1, 3
The finds include locally made tools alongside stone brought from elsewhere. Researchers interpret some workshop patterns as evidence that people replaced worn stone inserts in composite tools. These small objects offer a more direct glimpse of skilled work beside the lake than the later stories told about its changing waters.1
The lake occupies a closed basin. Its water history reflects rainfall, inflow and evaporation, while water also moves between the lake and sediments beneath it. Geoscience Australia's published research describes saline groundwater below the bed and the concentration of salts as lake water evaporates.2, 3
Observations and measurements have been gathered almost continuously since 1820. A research team assembled two centuries of records in 2020, connecting individual observations, official measurements and satellite imagery. Read together, they show the lake as a changing environmental archive, with floods and dry periods tracking the rainfall history of south-eastern Australia.3