Archeology constitutes the systematic study of the historic culture and behavior of human beings. The study focuses on the old aspects and digs up to the present age. To come up with a clear understanding of the past human events and their behavior, archeologists closely examines material relics of preceding human societies. Such relics include fossils, foods, remnants of a building, and humanoid artifacts which may include pottery, and jewelry. Gero (2008) explains that from the examination of past human remains, archeologists are able to deduce the way of living which was experienced in the earlier days. On the other hand, urban archeology is a branch of archeology that specializes in the material culture of old towns or urban centers where the old life has left a rich documentation of the past. The author further points out that archeology in urban centers offer a variety of professional archeological services to individual people, developers, and archeological contractors, both on a straight and ancillary incident ("Resolution 2: Archeological Excavation for Teaching Purposes", 1975). This paper seeks to examine and asses the Big Dig Archeological site in Australia.
The site is located in Australia and is surrounded by two streets in the rocks that is Cumberland on one side and Gloucester on the other. According to Ivanova (2013), the region is rich with remains and historical documentation from as early as 18 th century.This was the period when first Europeans settled in Australia. Archeological activities in the region began in 1994. As a result of the commencement, the excavations called the attention of quite a number of organs, starting right from the media, to the public, and eventually the society. The project constituted 20 archeologists who were later helped by another group of 400 volunteers in the region. The entire group worked on what was termed as the “Big Dig”. The excavations in this area remain to be one of the largest urban archeological activities ever done in the Australian region as well as across the globe. The squad unearthed a settlement that constituted around thirty homes and shops, which had been constructed in 1795. The total number of artifacts collected was 750,000. The site offers a sporadic intuition into initial urban life in Sydney (Gero, 2008).
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The Pre-European Scenery and the Gadigal Populace
The age and site in this case is a peninsula that is covered by rocks extending out in the Sidney Quay. In the past, the area was occupied by the Gadigal people of the Eora Empire. These were the earliest settlers of Sidney. Their main activities were simply hunting, gathering, as well as fishing. However, on excavation, there were no remains of the Gadigals in the site. Probably, the absence of remains and remnants was due to the cragginess of the Sandstone in the region that would have instigated the area to be quite cruel, punitive, and unprotected. Nevertheless, a campfire substantiating to almost 300 years ago was found, this was before the arrival of Europeans in the region. The uncovered items in the region were the objects of the group of people that constructed the ANA Hotel which is presently known as the Shangri-La Hotel. From the discovered remains, there were relics and bones of sea animals such as the bream, oysters, and snapper among others. This was a clear evidence of the past economic activities of fishing.
Advent of the Europeans
The peninsula rocks emanated to be a habitat and home of quite a considerable population, it was especially a home for many of the convicts who first set their foot in the region on the first European fleet in January 1788. They were captives of the European group. According to Kacunko (2015) after the arrival, the then Governor realized that their planned endpoint of Botany was inhabitable; they were coerced to move to the Cook area in the coastal regions. The basic and primary reason for the European advent in the region was to secure a good place to punish their convicts. They were to construct a settlement and render it self-supporting in the shortest time possible, this was to prevent remuneration of the suburb and provide the necessary fiscal support to keep it moving. However, Kacunko states that the construction proved to be quite difficult and catastrophic, the reason being, the builders were supposed to be convicts of whom only a few had the two essential skills which is carpentry and farming. The edges currently known as “the lines” represented the lines of tents that lodged the new advents. The author further mentions that right from the word go, the principle intention of these people was to transmute and gentrify the rugged area by engraving, terracing and bleeding the scenery. Tracks having their way up from the Sidney region were broken into rocks AND Cribbs Lane. The first lane-way of Big Dig was also part of gentrification (Kacunko, 2015).
Initial inhabitants of Big Dig
The identity of the first settles and inhabitants of the region is not yet known. However, in 1795, George and Armsden two European convicts constructed a slab hut in the region. Unfortunately, in 1807 George died from a boating accident and Armsden his wife was coerced to marry Talbot a local baker. They collectively constructed a home on the site. The home included a cottage that constituted two rooms and an extra room which had a fireplace and a cistern for baking. On the other hand, Richard Byrne was an occupant of the site in the year 1805. Additionally, his economic activity was masonry and it looked like he had quarried some parts of the site to extract stones for constructing the base for his weatherboard cottage. Evidences and assessments from the site suggests that most houses in the region were built from the same stones that were in the quarries. The Richards who constituted a family of 9 stayed in their constructed house up to around 1850. A part of present Sidney residents are the descendants of Richard.
According to Torrence (2008), the year 1809 to late 1820s saw the inhabitation of George Cribb in the region. He constructed a Georgian settlement on the Southeast area that is famously known as Cribbs Lane. George was one of the convicts who defied all odds and endorsed opportunities as a typical prisoner. He had been convicted for 14 years, and despite the sentence, he had opened up quite a number of businesses in the region. Among several others, the most successful entrepreneurial induction was his butchering business. Torrence also explains that George slaughtered pigs, sheep, Goats, among others which he auctioned to the colony and fleets that left Sidney. Cribb expanded his economic endeavors by constructing a number of apartments which he rented out to the settlers and fellow convicts. According to Torrence (2008), the butchering business was centrally located which made it consume quite a considerable piece of land especially on the southern endpoint of the Big Dig site. This was the same point where he suppressed and buried the remains of the animals he slaughtered. George’s activities led to the intoxication of water wells in the site.
From the investigations that were carried on his acts of environmental degradations and well water poisoning, a number of items substantiated the allegations. According to Hugo (1975), the items found were household materials that constituted Chinese porcelain, a butcher’s knife and an alcohol can. George had been alleged for his activities which also included the sale of illegal and illicit alcohol which he used as currency. The allegations resulted to 24 hour surveillance on his activities. Eventually, George was arrested but there was nothing that could be said as enough evidence to convict him. However, it was after180 years when archeologists uncovered the full evidence that could convict him (the alcohol can in his well). By the end of 1820, George was hit by an economic crisis and was rendered bankrupt. This led to the auction and purchase of his property by land trailblazers who constructed the presently known Carahers Lane and auctioned in small divisions to the society. George’s home was later re-constructed into a bigger building with horse stables in the rear. The building was later converted into a Hotel which was given the name Arms Hotel (Hugo, 1975).
Partitioning and expansion
The land on the Cumberland Street was purchased by Albert Nicholas, it was located in the opposite side of the site, he had constructed five cottages on the quarry. Additionally, he came up with a pair of storey terraces on Carahers Lane. By the end of 1850, some other Storeys were constructed on Cribbs Lane, and over the ensuing 80 years, the constructed buildings and others were inhabited by English and Ireland settlers. The settlers of these houses disposed of their refuse below the floorboards. Refuse that was disposed which was approximately 35 centimeters deep suggested and gave evidence of the lives of people who lived during that era. The refuses proposed and put forward that they were very concerned about their eating in terms of serving and the general handlings of their consumed food. Their foods was served on fine china; the food mainly constituted beef, oysters, fish, and duck among others. Furthermore, they arrayed their vegetables with pickles and chutneys (O'Keeffe, 2018).
When it came to housing, they provided decorations to their rooms and balconies with the help of figurines and bouquets of flowers. On other instances, they decorated the rooms with cowry shells and flamboyant corals. Their clothes were stitched with stylish jewelries and smoldered earthen pipes. Children on the other side engage in recreation activities with dolls, marbles, toy soldiers and chess. The Brynes had as well auctioned their land in small portions between 1840 and 1850. On the other hand, Robert Berry came up with a bakery in 1843, this was on the southern end of Cribb’s Lane. Additionally, an inn was established by Jane, Robert’s younger sister, it was given the name Plymouth Inn. However, it was demolished in 1913 and a new Hotel was constructed on the adjacent, The Hotel is presently on the opposite of the Big Dig site (Dellepiane et al., 2013).
Bubonic Plague (1900)
The arrival of the bubonic plague instilled fear among the residents of Sydney. It was in the minds of people that that the highly populated region of peninsula would receive a hot blow. However, after 1850, a lot of expansion was experienced in Sydney land, the area expanded out into the suburban regions. As a result quite a good number of people were convinced that the old regions of Sidney were not fit for human survival. The peninsula rock area came to be known as the “slum”. It is quite evident that sewerage systems and channeled water had been allied to the site ever since 1850s.. Additionally, some houses had been constructed may years ago and were exposed to deprived conditions. Poor maintenance and deprived conditions of the water and sewerage systems exposed people to the bubonic disease. Over one hundred people died on Carahers Lane. From the demise, only three deaths were experienced in the Rocks. Big portions of the Rocks were doomed for devastation. After the purchase by the Government of wales, the regions were dissipated slowly ("Ford Grants for Archeological Excavations", 1968).
Between 1917 and 1994
Sheds and houses that were made from extensive crenelated iron, mounted on the site between 1917 and 1930, this was evident from the rigid concrete footholds noticeable in the site. The year 1950 was accompanied by the demolition and vacation of the site. Arnold (1992) states that the site was enclosed with bitumen and turned into a bus extradite, later, it was made a car-park. The bitumen that had enclosed the site provided a perfect seal on the archeological remnants underneath. This provided an exceptional prospect to assess and analyze past documentaries when the site was quarried in 1994 (Arnold, 1992).
Conclusion
The Big Dig site was put into restriction and the public was deprived its access. It was not until the commencement of 2005 when archeological exhumes were made on some sections of the site. After the excavation, Sydney Harbor was established in 2008 and this led to the construction of the Big Dig Archeological Education Centre. The centre was publicly launched in April 2010. Right from the beginning of 1960, urban and city archeologists have exhumed the particulars of quite a number of large cities around the globe. Their archeological activities has helped to draft explanations of the past about on a number of urban centers. Additionally, urban planners are able to get significant data. This provides a good layout and helps in effective urban planning.
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