Sarah and Emily's Bottle

This 'torpedo' bottle was painstakingly pieced together by Sarah and Emily in the Arch lab. It took over an hour to complete and less than 10 seconds to pull apart again. Adhesive materials are highly distructive to artefacts, and for this reason we were not able to leave the bottle pieced together. A bottle such as this one would most likely have contained corbonated water.

Dr Timbo and Top Archaeologist Jody

Do I have to go

here are a few pictures of what has been unearthed during the last few days ... we hit the sub floor deposit and amazing objects have been uncovered ... a few are still in situ and have not been recovered ... no one wants to leave the site at the end of the day because of the artefacts being enearthed ... it is all good

Michael excavating a shoe

{above} Sarah came up from her job as site artist for a 40 minute break .... stayed 4 hours

Kara and jaqui found a pot ... most amazing find !!!

You have to be an archaeologist to get so excited over a bit of rubbish left over from 150 years ago ... we found pins attached to cloth , metal bits , 5 shoes and some pots today ... dirt digging ... it is all good !!!

Extreme Archaeology!

On Sunday 13th of Jan. We excavated in gale force winds and were quickly covered in dirt! It was also a battle to stand up when wind gusts came a-calling. Then it rained at about 4:45pm. There were some great finds to come out of the trench that day however: a shoe, partial wine bottle, a glass congac flask, a fragment of ceramic with the Rhine pattern, two bricks with a broard arrow on it, a key, and a metal ring that could have come from a pan.

The Key

Pan Rim

Brick with the broard arrow

There has also been alot happening in the Lab! Cleaning, Sorting and Cataloguing. The special or diagnostic artefacts are also being drawn, by our talented volunteers Sarah and Michelle, and photographed by a few others. The photography process can also help identify atrefacts that combine to make a vessel or ornament when they have been found in different parts of the trench. Below is Me (Laus) puting the final piece on a 20th century ornamental Clogg with a blue image of windmills and water (pictured further below).

The visitors center here at Port Arthur is very informative and interactive. Pictured is Ally being sentanced and also in shackles.

That just about brings you up to speed for the moment,
Lauren (a humble volunteer)

Nails! Nails! Nails!

Most people may not consider nails to be an exciting topic, however us lucky volunteer archaeologists at Port Arthur have found differently. Every day, thousands of nails are being cleaned, measured and counted and we have found that we have now grown to love Brad and the other many nails in our lives. But we were traumastised this morning when we walked into the lab to find that in our exuburance we had completed all nail related tasks and were therefore reduced to completing the task of washing artefacts from 2001.....However we would like to highlight the fact that may not have been picked up in this speel, is that nails rock!
Kara and Jasmine
PS Tash is the best break dancer in Radelaide

Hi there-

Hi there folks. This is Tash reporting from Port Arthur. Although the weather has been all over the place, our digs have been productive. Yesterday Alex and I went out to the Separate Prison to dig with good old Uncle Greg. We strung the trench, cleared all loose surface debris, photographed the trench, took dumpy level measurements, and began excavating. Today is a busy day in the lab, I have been cataloguing paint samples all morning.

Well take care
Tash - volunteer and best break dancer in Radelaide!

Scorpion Rock Lookout .... Port Arthur