Aims

Specifically the project will:

complete the re-cataloguing and contextual analysis of artefacts recovered from the Hyde Park Barracks site, thereby creating a consistent database for the entire site, that will also be consistent with databases derived from other sites in Sydney analysed under the EAMC project, and from the major Melbourne site of Casselden Place (Murray 2006).

Drawing on this re-cataloguing work project staff will undertake advanced assemblage analysis on the assemblage to achieve the following goals:

to more fully articulate perspectives on specified classes of material culture as a means of better understanding contexts of consumption, and more reliably contributing to analyses of the role of material culture in mediating ethnicity, gender roles, or class distinctions.
to write a historical archaeology of the Hyde Park Barracks that will enhance the site's contribution to making new histories of migration and institutions in the 19th century.
to contribute to the development of a global comparative perspective on historical archaeology through publication and by participating in conferences and meetings.
to contribute, through consultation and publication, to the development of public programmes at the Hyde Park Barracks Museum and at the Historic Houses Trust of NSW generally. These programmes will enhance public understanding and appreciation of the history of the building, of the institutionalised care of the sick and the destitute, and the history of migration in Australia.
to enhance the heritage and historical potential of large assemblages derived from archaeological sites that are stored in museums around Australia, but which are rarely used as a resource for history-making.