The archaeological contribution to nineteenth-century history: Some Australian case studies

The special characteristics of historical archaeology in Australia are outlined, being the consequences of growth in the colony only after the industrial revolution had already begun in the home country. There was little local craft tradition, and the sporadic nature of small industrial projects in nineteenth-century New South Wales is illustrated here by the shortlived pottery enterprise of the pioneer settler James King at Irrawang, 1833-55. Other sites described are the aboriginal settlement at Wybalenna, on Flinders Island, dating to the 1830s, and the gold-rush town at Hill End, near Bathurst, the main period of activity at which was 1870-2.