The Stonehenge in the UK has been one of the most mystical prehistoric monuments, with theories ranging from it being a burial ground or ritualistic site, to a healing area and conspiracy claims such as ancient alien markers. Now, all eyes are on Australia’s version of the Stonehenge – a stone arrangement on a raised mound, consisting of a cross circumscribed by a perfect circle, complete with a trail of stones that lead a few hundred metres away. In spite of great potential for exploration, “Australia’s Stonehenge” remains shrouded in mystery.

The site lies around 40km from Mullumbimby - in the northern edge of NSW. It was mostly destroyed in the 1940s; for fear of further damage, its exact location is kept secret as of today. The first documented exploration of the Australian Stonehenge was in 1939 by Frederic Slater, former president of the Australian Archaeological and Education Research Society. Slater had written numerous excited letters about the findings, uncovered in 2013 by a teacher at the Brunswick Valley Historical Society – Richard Patterson.

“The mound is one of the oldest; I should say the oldest, forms of temples in the world and dates back to the Palaeolithic age with the advent of first man,” Slater is believed to have written. He also referred to the site as being “more important than Stonehenge,” reports News.com.

One hundred eighty-one standing stones are contained in the mysterious site, most of which are sandstone rocks that are unlikely to have occurred naturally in the area, reports News.com. The closest sandstone deposits lay at a distance of over 20 km – impossible to move with the lack of appropriate tools in prehistoric times. It is believed that the Australian Stonehenge may contain the first inscriptions of human language - a multi-layered and complex system containing thousands of words.

In 2015, the father-and-son duo Steven and Evan Strong started a quest to create awareness about a structure that they believe is “one of the most important sites on the planet.”

“Slater’s letters were lost and found. What we’ve now found is archaeology that backs up his theory that this was the first language ever and was recorded there,” said Strong in a News.com report. "The language is a combination of hand signs, letters, “sacred signs” and body parts … Slater had compiled over 28,000 words in this language."

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