SA Historical Archaeology Database 

Welcome

Historical archaeology is the study of the colonial past: the sites and artefacts that European people have left behind from over 200 years of living and working in Australia. The Historical Archaeology of Adelaide Project is based in the Department of Archaeology, Flinders University. It is a long term project to record and document archaeological data from three key site types throughout South Australia: cemeteries, standing structures (buildings), and monuments/memorials.

Project data has been compiled by second and third year undergraduate archaeology students as part of their work in the topic, ARCH2002: Australian Historical Archaeology. Students in this topic carry out regular practical exercises in recording historical archaeological sites and complete a major assignment detailing one aspect of South Australian historical archaeology. As a result, this is a gradually accumulating database. Each year’s class collects information that builds on the results collected by previous classes, for example by recording each year the buildings in a new city block, or by documenting the headstones in an adjoining area of a cemetery.

These databases are available as a public resource for heritage research. They are always changing and will continue to grow as they contribute to build knowledge of the historical archaeology of South Australia.

For further information on the Department of Archaeology, undergraduate archaeology topics and ARCH2002: Australian Historical Archaeology see http://ehlt.flinders.edu.au/archaeology/.