Fascinating Finds

ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH QUESTIONS FOR PARRAMATTA QUESTIONS FOR EARLY COLONIAL SITES (1788-1840's)  SURVIVAL OF THE BRITISH COLONY – ROSE HILL SETTLEMENT Nature of the First Fleet settlement of Rose Hill and the beginning of British penetration into the hinterland of Sydney Cove, to assist with the...

These two chess pieces were made of bone and found below the floor of two workers' cottages of the Victorian period at the Darling Quarter site, Darling Harbour, Sydney. Each component was individually sawn, turned, carved and polished. Probably made in Britain for a burgeoning...

This locally-made jug is biochrome-coloured with pale yellow slip, dark red colouring on the neck and upper handle with impressed rouletting around the neck, and interior yellow lead glaze. The jug is made from fine white clay and has three portrait medals on three faces,...

Parramatta 3rd Convict Hospital – double broad arrow bricks, 1817 During the 2006 excavation of the 3rd convict hospital at Parramatta some of the convict-made sandstock bricks were found to have two broad arrow marks. The broad arrow is a mark to indicate government manufacture…

Bird whistle, 710-722 George Street, Haymarket This small clay bird whistle is in the shape of a pigeon came from an archaeological site in Haymarket in Sydney. The belly would have been plugged and possibly filled with water and blown from the tail to make…

Noughts and Crosses from Darling Quarter This slate board fragment had ruled lines later crossed by a child to play noughts and crosses. It had fallen below the floor of a worker's cottage in c1840-1880 at the Darling Quarter site, Darling Harbour, Sydney. Slate pencils...

Praying Dolls from Darling Quarter, Darling Harbour These two hand-painted glazed solid porcelain dolls were found below the floor of two workers' cottages at the Darling Quarter site, Darling Harbour, Sydney. They were probably accidentally lost during or after play. The dolls were made in...

Quarry Punch from the Sydney Conservatorium site A metal quarry punch was found in Quarry 1 during the 1998 archaeological excavations of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music site, the neo-gothic Government Stables built between 1817-1821. The punch was found in the first few of days...

Bone Button Manufacturing at Parramatta Evidence for bone button manufacturing was found at the Convict Hospital, Parramatta Justice Precinct site (PJP). Some 38 broken single-hole buttons and offcuts were located within modified topsoils associated with convict huts built in 1790 nearby to the 1792 Second...

Gun Flints & Grapeshots at Fort Phillip, Sydney These artefacts were found during excavation the bomb-proof chamber and adjacent courtyard of Fort Phillip, now Observatory Hill, Sydney in 2008 and 2010. The Fort had a commanding view of Port Jackson above Sydney Cove but was…

The aim of this section is to address the list of research questions below as well as provide detailed analysis of Thomas Ball’s Pottery. We are not writing a separate section as a response to the research design due to budgetary and timing constraints. The...

This plaque was made by Jonathan Moreton, an early convict potter. It is a unique finely crafted object with a hole at the top for hanging on a wall. The plaque was manufactured by John Moreton between c.1835 to 1837. The basemark on the back...

During the 2007 excavation at the Parramatta Justice Precinct we found the remains of two infants or neonates (newborn burials) associated with Parramatta's 2nd Convict Hospital (1792-1818). They had been carefully placed in a small shallow grave and oriented with their heads at the western...