What will the latest excavation at Port Arthur uncover?
What is the latest excavation at historic Port Arthur expecting to uncover?
Tasmania
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A TEAM of archaeologists will start excavating the site of former convict-period workshops next to the iconic penitentiary at the Port Arthur Historic Site.
The dig, to start on March 12, 2020, is part of a project between the Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority (PAHSMA) and Dr Richard Tuffin, Postdoctoral Research Fellow from the University of New England.
“These workshops were integral to the operation of the Port Arthur penal station,” Dr Tuffin said.
“Over the years since the site was given up as a penal station in 1877, there has been a lot of activity that has impacted the integrity of the convict-period structures and deposits. “Everything from salvage to bushfires and the erection of new buildings have all had an impact.”
The first stage of the project will involve the use of an excavator to carefully remove the upper layer of topsoil to expose the features and deposits beneath.
“After that, we use hand tools for the rest of the excavation,” Dr Tuffin said.
The investigations will continue until November and are the latest in a suite of archaeological activities in and around the Penitentiary precinct since 2013.
The Port Arthur dig follows another at the former Picton Rd station in the Southern Midlands which recently uncovered hundreds of artefacts, including alcohol bottles.
The station and cells housed convicts whose labour was used to build the highway between Launceston and Hobart.
PAHSMA Archaeology Manager Dr David Roe said previous excavations at the Port Arthur site had revealed new things about how the site evolved, how convicts were managed and how they reacted to that management.
“We’re sure that this new investigation of the workshops will add to this new knowledge, particularly by helping us to understand how convict labour was used in industrial production and what were the processes and products of their work,” Dr Roe said.
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The archaeological investigations at Port Arthur are also part of a wider and ongoing research project looking at the important role that labour played in the Australian convict system.
helen.kempton@news.com.au
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