Prior to European settlement, the area was home to the Bunurong and Wurundjeri indigenous peoples. They maintained a traditional hunting and gathering lifestyle with seasonal movements. A number of stone axe heads have been found in the Harkaway area in a location known as "Bald Hill", and some reports say that a corroboree was held there in 1858. However, by 1840, reduction of their hunting grounds, draining of the swamps and introduction of European diseases such as smallpox and measles effectively ended their ability to maintain a traditional lifestyle.