Today's blog comes from Alana Kelly, one of our archaeological volunteers on site, who more-often-than-not was given the job of mapping in the features we found. Today she tells us all about how our archaeological maps were drawn and why they're important! An important part of any archaeological excavation is recording and mapping. While most … Continue reading Fun with archaeological maps!
Dental care might not have been high on the list of priorities for the first European colonists to New Zealand, but it’s an important aspect of life experience. Gum or tooth infections and loss of teeth can have some serious health implications, and result in pain, changes to diet and need for care. Poor dental … Continue reading Filling in the gaps – Dental care in colonial Milton
Today's blog post comes from one of our Masters Students, Clare De Joux-Perry, who last year spent some time looking at the teeth of the people of Milton in search of evidence of their smoking habits... Our teeth are the only part of our skeletons that regularly interact with our surrounding environment. Every day they … Continue reading Studying smoking in the past
Today's blog comes from Kath Croy, a member of the TP60 committee, relative of at least ten of the early Milton residents interred in the little St Johns Burial Ground and most importantly for us 'camp mum' of the St. John's excavations. Kath Croy (photo used with Kath's permission) I am a great great granddaughter … Continue reading My volunteering experience at the Milton site: A descendant’s story
We started excavations in Lawrence in April 2018, looking into the 'old' cemetery on Ardrossan Street (now privately owned land) and the unmarked area of the Gabriel's Street cemetery where Chinese people are believed to have been buried - there are some graves marked with headstones with Chinese characters in this area. European people who … Continue reading The excavations in Lawrence: A summary
The excavations at St. John's Anglican cemetery, Milton are where it all began for us with this project. Our site directors Dr. Peter Petchey and Prof. Hallie Buckley were asked by local historical group the Tokomairiro 60 project and the Anglican diocese to look into the extent of unmarked graves in the cemetery for the … Continue reading The excavations at St. John’s Milton: a summary
Today's blog explains some of the results of chemical analysis of diet in the St. John's Milton sample. It is based around the team's recently accepted paper in the Journal of Historical Archaeology. Extract from the Otago Witness 21st March 1868 (Issue 851), with one reader at least feeling very melodramatic about the lack of … Continue reading “So scant my fare, my bones are bare…”?
Our first publications on St. John’s Milton, the rescue excavation at Cromwell, and Milton and the old and new cemeteries at Lawrence are now out in Archaeology in New Zealand (the New Zealand Archaeological Association’s magazine). You can check out what we’ve been finding in the pdfs below. St. John's Milton Excavation 2017 Download Petchey & … Continue reading Preliminary site reports
Southern Cemeteries Archaeology Project 