Historical artefacts unearthed in two-year Queen’s Wharf dig

Stunning glimpses into Brisbane’s colonial history have been unearthed at a CBD construction site, which will be on show for all Queenslanders to see.

IN THE race to build Brisbane’s $3.6 billion tourism future, stunning glimpses into our past are being unearthed.

190-year-old ‘torpedo bottles’ specially designed to survive the trip from England to the Moreton Bay Penal Colony without letting soft drinks go flat were among dozens of artefacts uncovered at the Queen’s Wharf construction site.

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Another bottle dated in the late 19th Century likely came from a company which would eventually become the famous Kirks brand.

Workers digging the five-storey deep hole on William St in Brisbane City made the discovery, in an area which would be one of Brisbane’s longest-settled areas.

Urbis archaeologist Holly Maclean examining some of Brisbane’s oldest European artefacts. Picture: Annette Dew

Archaeologist Holly Maclean said the artefacts gave historians a peek into Brisbane’s settlement, when the colony was still reliant on shipments from Sydney and London.

“The torpedo bottles were popular from about 1800 to 1900,” Ms Maclean said, outlining how their round design kept corks wet and thus prevented corks from drying out and breaking seal.

“We can date (one of the bottles) to 1830 to 1840,” she said, only five years after Brisbane was founded.

Old ink bottles, power poles and ginger beer bottles were also uncovered. Picture: Annette Dew

She said the bottles would’ve been filled using a 19th Century predecessor to the SodaStream.

Dean Prangley from the Royal Historical Society of Queensland said the artefacts would be preserved for future generations at the Queen’s Wharf Visitor Centre.

“The artefacts uncovered represent a timeline from convict days to the end of the 19th Century,” Mr Prangley said.