Apologies for the break (and a brief update)

Apologies for the break (and a brief update)

Port Arthur excavation

Excavations at Port Arthur were just part of a large project of research and conservation in the 1980s. In this case Krystal Buckley and the late Martin Davies made a prominent contribution. the photo comes from Helen Laffin, who participated in the Commandant's residence dig.

Clows Homestead

I was not on this dig, but here is a photo from Helen Laffin of Clows Homestead excavation in 1980. 

This site of archaeological excavations in 1974 and 1980 has intact sealed deposits of the 1840's and 1850's. It is now an overgrown and fenced off, located on a ridge overlooking Dandenong and Corhanwarrabul Creeks.  There is a Parks Victoria File (6031047) at Heritage Victoria. (WELLINGTON ROAD ROWVILLE, Knox City VHI, H7922-0007

VAS Corinella excavation in 1980s

This group of photos is a panorama across the site looking east and panning north to southThis group of photos is a panorama across the site looking east and panning north to south

South Yarra Cable Tram Engine House and Tram Shed

For several years the former cable tram engine house and tram shed o the corner of Toorak Road and Chapel Street South Yarra has been threatened with demolition, with a variety of developments proposed to replace it. The latest is a 38 story complex which will entirely replace the corner and with the Como centre make a 'twin pillars' entrance to Chapel Street.

Remoddled by Harry Norris in the 1930s, when the vable trams had been removed and the lines converted to electricity, the site became the Capitol Bakery. The building was further modified for the creation of the Fun Factory in about 1986, to the extent of large openings being made in the Toorak Road facade and a colonnaded passage inside the property line.

While it might be hidden behind the layers of history - this is one of a group of cable tram buildings which represent what was one of the most important public transport systems in the world - the largest cable tram system under a single operator.

We ( the residents of Melbourne, the ordinary people) don't need another class tower. Yes there will be million dollar flats for those that can afford it, and yes some other investors will make a buck, but the rest of us - the 4 1/2 million who just have to live in the city as it is, will just get congestion, shiny towers on the skyline, and a sense of loss for what was once our experience of the world around us.

ICI Explosives Factory

The Deer Park factory was again rejected for protection the Heritage Register. Here is a site with a unique history and buildings, where dozens of industrial accidents have left about 30 workers blown to bits. It is an example of an industry where workers being maimed or killed was factored into the production strategy, and therefore probably profit and loss accounts. Something like the coal board's annual records of thousands of tons of coal won per death.

The dangers of making explosives are expressed in the design of the factory and its components, from the spread out small buildings hidden behind blast mounds and connected by 'clean ways' (based on the 'quantity distance' tables worked out by trial and error) to the individual remote controls placed outside concrete protective walls to protect the operator.

Commenced in about 1874, the site was the only Australian maker of dynamite- like explosives, only a few years after Alfred Nobel began his Ardeer factory in Scotland.

OzArch summary of use from 2010

In the last couple of months OzArch has passed 2000 posts on 856 topics and has over 500 members (currently 548). However, fewer than a dozen members have been responsible for nearly half the messages. This suggests either the list is only of value to a small group of highly communicable members, or that archaeology in Australia does not have a high degree of interaction outside of set groups (i.e. conversations are kept within the confines of individual corporate, government or academic entities), or that OzArch is not a particularly important medium for communication. Unfortunately I don't have any measure of other communication systems between archaeologists, such as private emails, conversations around the water cooler, coffee machine, etc.; although comparison with the ratio of numbers of people attending and presenting at archaeology conferences suggests that there is a relatively low level of participation in OzArch.

A couple of my own initiatives to make OzArch more valuable have been to encourage archaeology blogging and get some useful data posted linked sites - such as the Victorian radiometric dates index.

Therefore I would welcome any suggestions for improving the usefulness and use of use of OzArch in the new year.