Archaeologists revel in mysteries and insights
The Invercargill inner-city block that borders Tay and Esk streets is an inadvertent time capsule, holding riddles, clues and answers about what life was like in the 19th century.
Archaeologists have been on site, which has been cleared to make way for the inner-city development, since the first half of the year, uncovering objects that haven’t seen the light of day for more than 100 years.
New Zealand Heritage Properties director of archaeology Dr Dawn Cropper is heading the dig.
‘‘The excitement of finding a unique artefact is palpable. Our team is very passionate about archaeology and everyone shares in the exhilaration.
‘‘We have an internal messaging system and as soon as something interesting is found, photos are posted and the race is on to find out what the mystery artefact is.’’
So far, archaeologists have uncovered the foundations of the city’s first brick building, a jar of olives that dates back before 1900, 14 wells, clay pipes, tobacco pipes and old soda bottles – amongst other things.
The latest find is the remains of an 1870s building that at one time housed the Southland Times printing press pit. The archaeologists believe it was built into the ground to help suppress noise, so it didn’t bother the neighbours.
Working on a site the size of a city block is not something archaeologists in New Zealand get to do every day.
Ordinarily, Cropper would be writing archaeological assessments, undertaking monitoring of buildings archaeology on small sites and reporting the results of their work.
‘‘There are very few instances where you have a project of this size, so it’s quite an exceptional opportunity.’’
During the Invercargill project, the team have also recorded all the buildings on the block with heritage status or that were built before 1900.
‘‘Everybody was getting their water from their backyards . . . [wells] also are really useful because people often filled them up with artefacts . . . well, they would have considered it rubbish, so it’s like this time capsule has been sealed off, and it can
give us a really clear indication of the things that were happening on these properties.’’
Luckily, many artefacts provide dating evidence.
‘‘One of the wells located on the property of a cordial manufacturer – the name of that manufacturer was actually stamped on some of the bottles, so it can give us a very clear indication of who was using it, and a lot of the ceramics and bottles and things that we find can be easily dated.’’
Legally the artefacts that have been discovered belong to the landowner.
HWCP have indicated that some of the artefacts will even be integrated into the new build.
Southland Museum and Art Gallery have also expressed an interest in displaying some of the collection as well, Cropper said.
Buildings or land that date pre-1900 are protected by the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act 2014.
An archaeological authority is required if someone seeks to modify or destroy a site.
This ‘‘permit’’ comes with conditions, including archaeological monitoring and building documenting, in order to form a permanent record of the past.
Invercargill Central have been highly supportive of the work, Cropper said.
This sort of understanding isn’t always the case. In 2014, Christchurch property developer Antony Gough said he was sick of paying people to ‘‘sift sand and stare at dirt’’ and believed heritage was becoming a roadblock to recovery after the earthquakes.
However, Cropper believed it was important to take the time as archaeology was only a finite resource.
‘‘By undertaking this recording, we are forming a permanent record of the past so that we can learn from the site, and people can continue to study it in the future.’’
‘‘There are very few instances where you have a project of this size, so it’s quite an exceptional opportunity.’’ Dr Dawn Cropper
New Zealand Heritage Properties director of archaeology