The Burrup Peninsula is part of the Dampier Archipelago and was separated from the mainland by tidal mudflats and mangrove thickets until a causeway was built when Hamersley Iron constructed the port town of Dampier.

It was originally inhabited by the Yapurrara people who named it Murujung meaning "hip bone sticking out". The peninsula is one of the richest sites for prehistoric rock engravings in Australia with more than 10 000 engravings in over 500 recorded sites.