Historic cemeteries are places of veneration, wonder and often mystery. Such is the case with the small cemetery located on the southwest coast of Efate Island, at Mele, an area once known as Faureville. Its origins relate to the arrival of Catholic missionaries on the island in 1887 where they ‘purchased’ land at Mele. The …
During the 2022 Australasian Society for Historical Archaeology (ASHA) conference in Russell, New Zealand, I was fortunate enough to present a poster detailing an essay I wrote for my Australian Maritime Archaeology class at Flinder’s University. I was inspired by the findings of Michael Nash during his extensive works on the shipwreck Sydney Cove, found …
An Aboriginal Perspective on the Archaeology of Shipwreck Survivors in Australia Read More »
If you hadn’t noticed we have a new website. Our Web Manager, AKA Nick Pitt, has worked really hard to get this up and running and user friendly. He has also added a fantastic new page of resources (see below). It is very useful, please have a look by hitting the resource tab and if …
CANBERRA ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY-AUSTRALASIAN SOCIETY FOR HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL SYMPOSIUM 2022 A report from Richard Morrison (ACT ASHA representative). This very successful, half-day event was held on 30 April in the 2022 ACT and Region Heritage Festival and was the Symposium’s fourth year (the 2020 Festival was cancelled because of Covid). This year’s event venue was held …
A couple of weeks ago we celebrated all things archaeology in National Archaeology Week (NAW). I was lucky enough to be part of a couple of events in Sydney and thought I would share my experiences. My first event was on the first Sunday of the week. Not only was it NAW it was also …
When you mention a weekend in Hobart most people consider a visit to MONA a must. Often overlooked is the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG). Growing up in Tasmania this was a favourite place and for me a weekend in Hobart is not complete unless I pay a visit. It has changed greatly over …
A few people have asked how to submit a blog post. I could just write the instructions down and post those but…. that would be dull! So I have written a short blog as an example. Meet Mr Sweetser This week I have been cataloguing some miscellaneous artefacts for a project in Parramatta. Amongst the …
Kindly sent in and written by Dr. Richard Tuffin After nearly three years of careful gestation, the latest ASHA book has hit the shelves. Magisterially titled, Recovering Convict Lives: A Historical Archaeology of the Port Arthur Penitentiary, it is sure to be filling stockings this Christmas. Wrought with love by Richard Tuffin, David Roe, Sylvana Szydzik, …
Recovering Convict Lives: A Historical Archaeology of the Port Arthur Penitentiary Read More »
Written by Susan Wrigley. Readers who have excavated or worked in museums around Sydney will enjoy trying to identify the fictional characters in the latest book by prolific author Pamela Hart titled Digging Up Dirt, a murder mystery set in the Inner West which starts with the most Sydney of preoccupations, a renovation. When a …
In October 1942, during the Kokoda Campaign in Papua New Guinea (PNG), two Japanese soldiers died in a small pit in the Eora Creek valley opposing the Australian Army’s advance north. Archaeological work between 2011 and 2019 has recovered their remains, identified their role in the battle and more recently uncovered what probably killed these …
