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Why is our archaeology important?
Archaeology offers new, exciting and tangible evidence
of our Australian past.
Whether it be the convict huts (c. 1790) of Parramatta
with their ephemeral remains of decayed wattle and daub houses,
storage pits and locally-made pottery;
the growing affluence of Parramatta's early leaseholders;
the substantial stone docks of the 1810s Macquarie-period dockyards;
the buried landscapes and road system
of the c. 1820 Government Stables; 1820s dairying in the Haymarket;
an 1830s brickfield with remains of a clamp kiln;
working-class housing in Surry Hills and Pyrmont
and an early twentieth-century Chinese furniture factory in Surry Hills.
All of these sites tell their own stories.
These are stories about the hardship and survival of early settlement;
the grand designs of Governor and Mrs Macquarie and the other governors
to establish British settlement on the far side of the world.
As we move through the 19th century we can reveal
the developing evidence of industrial and urban lives,
squeezed into the inner city and packed in on each other.
The settlement Australia is a rare experiment in the world
of the late 18th and early 19th centuries
and as such its archaeological evidence is valued and recorded,
and sometimes kept, as part of how we manage heritage
and development in the 21st century.
Relics Provisions
Archaeology and the NSW Heritage Act 1977 (amended)
The main legislative constraints protecting archaeological remains
are the relic provisions of the NSW Heritage Act 1977,
Sections 139, 140-146.
According to Section 139:
- A person must not disturb or excavate any land
knowing or having reasonable cause to suspect that
the disturbance or excavation will or is likely to result in
a relic being discovered, exposed, moved, damaged or destroyed
unless the disturbance or excavation is carried out in accordance
with an excavation permit.
- A person must not disturb or excavate any land
on which the person has discovered or exposed a relic
except in accordance with an excavation permit.
- This section does not apply to a relic
that is subject to an interim heritage order
made by the Minister or a listing on the State Heritage Register.
- The Heritage Council may by order published in the Gazette
create exceptions to this section,
either unconditionally or subject to conditions,
in respect of any of the following:
(a) any relic of a specified kind or description,
(b) any disturbance or excavation of a specified kind or description,
(c) any disturbance or excavation of land in a specified location
or having specified features or attributes,
(d) any disturbance or excavation of land
in respect of which an archaeological assessment
approved by the Heritage Council indicates:
i. that there is little likelihood of there being
any relics in the land, or
ii. that any relics in the land are unlikely
to have State or local heritage significance.
A 'relic' is an item of 'environmental heritage' defined
by the Heritage Act 1977 (amended) as:
those places, buildings, works, relics, moveable objects,
and precincts of State or local heritage significance.
A relic as further defined by the Act as:
...any deposit, object or material evidence -
(a) which relates to the settlement
of the area that comprises New South Wales,
not being Aboriginal settlement; and
(b) which is 50 or more years old.
An excavation permit is required prior to any proposed impact
on archaeological remains.
An excavation permit forms an approval from the Heritage Council
for permission to 'disturb' a relic.
An application for an excavation permit must be made
to the Heritage Council of NSW (Section 140)
and it will take approximately six weeks to be processed.
The application for a permit must nominate a qualified archaeologist
to manage the disturbance of the relics.
There is a processing fee of $100 attached
to each excavation permit application.
See links page for Heritage Office link.
Terminology
Historical Archaeology
Historical Archaeology (in NSW) is the study of the physical remains
of the past, in association with historical documents,
since the European occupation of NSW in 1788.
As well as identifying these remains the study of this material
can help elucidate the processes, historical and otherwise,
which have created our present surroundings.
It includes an examination of how the late
eighteenth- and nineteenth-century arrivals lived and coped
with a new and alien environment, what they ate,
where and how they lived, the consumer items they used
and their trade relations,
and how gender and cultural groups interacted.
The material remains studied include:
- Archaeological Sites:
- below ground: these contains relics which include
building foundations,
occupation deposits, rubbish pits, cesspits,
wells, other features, and artefacts.
- above ground: buildings, works, industrial structures
and relics that are intact or ruined.
- Cultural Landscapes
- Maritime Sites:
- shipwrecks
- structures associated with maritime activities
Archaeological Potential
Archaeological potential is a site's potential to contain
archaeological relics which fall under the provisions
of the NSW Heritage Act 1977 (amended).
This potential is identified through historical research
and by judging whether current building or other
activities have removed all evidence of known previous land use.
Excavation Permit
A permit to disturb or excavate a relic
issued by the Heritage Council of New South Wales
under Section 60 or Section 140 of the NSW Heritage Act 1977.
Research Design
A set of questions which can be investigated
using archaeological evidence and appropriate
excavation methodology for addressing them.
A research design is intended to ensure that archaeological
investigations focus on genuine research needs.
It is an important tool that ensures that when archaeological
resources are destroyed by excavation,
their information content can be preserved and can contribute
to current and relevant knowledge.
Research Potential
The ability of a site or feature to yield information
through archaeological investigation.
The significance of archaeological sites is assessed according
to their ability to contribute information
to substantive research questions.
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