Today we rejoin Les and Maisie Wong's visitors to the Lawrence Chinese camp, as they enjoy a meal with their hosts and are introduced to the camp's nightlife... Heading towards Ah Bok’s, we noticed Missy struggling with a pail of water. She said she was getting water from the well as it is vital to … Continue reading Visiting a Chinese Camp Part 4 – the nightlife
Today Les and Maisie Wong continue their trip back in time with the Chinese on the goldfields. Catch up on Part 1 and Part 2 of their story, and then join us as we explore the store and the Joss house in the camp... After ‘Charlie’ had departed we offered to clear up the mess … Continue reading Chinese Whispers: Visiting a Chinese Camp (part 3)
This story is a tale of research woes. We like to pretend everything goes to plan in our studies, but sometimes the archaeology doesn't want to play along... Lead is a really important element in human history. Very early on we realised that it was a useful metal for us, it was nice and soft … Continue reading Lead astray by burial practices
Today Les and Maisie Wong continue their trip back in time to the Lawrence Chinese Camp, bringing to life the stories of the Chinese on the goldfields... Sleeping in the loft was not without its problems. Apart from being unfamiliar with sleeping on bales of straw there was the continuous disturbance of rodents, but this … Continue reading Chinese Whispers: Visiting a Chinese Camp (Part 2).
Continuing our exploration of life on the goldfields for the Chinese, today our collaborators Les and Maisie Wong take us on a trip into the Chinese Camps of the past... ** note that in this tale Les and Maisie have transliterated directly from spoken Chinese, in which there are no linking words, plurals, past or … Continue reading Chinese Whispers: Visiting a Chinese Camp
Today's blog is another from our excavation co-director and expert historical archaeologist Dr. Peter Petchey. Here he tells us more about the decorated coffins and how sometimes help in visualising the past comes from unexpected places... A previous blog entry looked at Victorian funerals and the decoration that was sometimes applied to coffins. As I … Continue reading Shopping for coffin decorations – how TradeMe helped us visualise colonial funerals
Today's blog post comes from Dr. Peter Petchey, our excavation co-director and expert historical archaeologist. Here he tells us about the Victorian penchant for making death beautiful, and what coffin decorations can tell us about the past. It is trite but true that the dead don’t bury themselves. Even if the deceased left instructions, it … Continue reading Beautiful Death – coffin decorations in colonial NZ
