Macquarie Point excavations to give an insight into early life at waterfront site
Diggers will spend the next two months sifting through rock and dirt at Macquarie Point as they hope to uncover artefacts from early European settlement.
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MACQUARIE Point excavation works are underway in search of archaeological artefacts from early European settlement.
Archaeological works will continue at the waterfront site for the next six to eight weeks with digging to operate at the former roundhouse, lumber yard and historic roadway.
Macquarie Point Development Corporation chief executive Mary Massina said those three sites contained the most historical evidence and gave an insight into what the area was like during early settlement.
The Corporation has commissioned Tasmanian company Austral to oversee excavation work, with the lumber yard the first section to be investigated.
“The excavation will be undertaken in stages, first by removing the soil with an excavator then transitioning to hand tools such as shovels, picks and brushes to delicately unearth and reveal any undiscovered archaeology,” Ms Massina said.
“We will then preserve, categorise and record any archaeological materials found.”
Ms Massina said the company was keen to unearth some hidden treasures.
“We are hoping to find some interesting artefacts which could shed light on the site’s history and give us a glimpse into what life was like in the early 1800s,” she said.
The lumber yard was established in 1826-27 and was the government’s principal works depot in the colony where a huge range of skilled trades were practised by convicts including blacksmithing, carpentry and furniture production.
The workshops surrounding the yard were used by turners, nailers, carpenters, sawyers, wheelwrights, tin smiths, armourers, painters, glaziers, coopers, saddlers and harness makers.
Stores were also erected for bricklayers, masons and stonecutters working in the nearby quarry.
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