Devil’s Marbles

By Dagmar Hollmann – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

The Devils Marbles in Davenport, Australia, are large boulders that form the exposed top layer of an extensive and mostly underground granite formation. The natural processes of weathering and erosion have created the various shapes of the boulders. Some of the boulders are naturally but precariously balanced atop one another or on larger rock formations, while others have been split cleanly down the middle by natural forces. The boulders are situated in a wide and shallow desert valley, and are found in scattered groups mainly in the western side of the reserve.
The Devils Marbles are of great cultural and spiritual significance to the traditional Aboriginal owners of the land. Karlu Karlu is the local Aboriginal term for both the rock features and the surrounding area.

By Prince Roy, Taipei – flickr.com, CC BY 2.0, Link

By Jordan Nyhouse – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

Accounts of local Aboriginal people believing the boulders to be eggs of the mythical Rainbow Serpent are incorrect. In reality, a number of traditional Dreaming stories have Karlu Karlu as their setting, hence its great importance as a sacred site. One of the main Dreaming stories for the area which can be told to the public relates to how Karlu Karlu was created. This tradition tells of Arrange, the Devil Man, who came from a hill nearby and traveled through the area. Whilst walking along, Arrange made a hair-string belt which is a kind of traditional adornment worn only by initiated men. As he was twirling the hair to make strings, he dropped clusters of hair on the ground.
The clusters turned into the big red boulders at Karlu Karlu that have become so famous today. On his way back to his hill, Arrange spat on the ground. His spit turned into the granite boulders in the central part of the reserve. Arrange finally returned to his place of origin, a hill called Ayleparrarntenhe where he remains today.
info WIKIPEDIA

By Jordan Nyhouse – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link