The Archaeology of Australia's History

Description

The material world of European settlement in Australia has been uncovered not only by historians but also by the work of archaeologists. These archaeological inquiries have revealed new pictures of the public and private lives of Australians at home and at work. This book, previously published as a hardback under the title Of the Hut I Builded,now in paperback, presents the insights gained from such investigations and makes them available to a wide audience. Historical archaeology is broad ranging and this book discusses the first European towns, including those settlements that failed, the archaeological traces left by the convicts, and archaeological evidence of the agricultural, maritime, industrial, and manufacturing activities of early Australia. Graham Connah also examines the evidence of earliest contact between Europeans and Aboriginal people.

'Connah has demonstrated the variety of approaches and concerns of this fast-growing discipline. I recommend his book to all readers interested in the study of Australia's theory.' Victorian Historical Journal 'Connah has done well to pick the eyes out of nearly twenty-five years of very patchy research and to weave it into a coherent account of possibilities of historical archaeology. In so doing he has made such research more accessible to the interested layperson.' Australian Historical Studies 'This book clearly achieves far more than the stated objective of introducing historic archaeology to the public at large. It is a highly readable, informative account which reflects the state of historic archaeology in Australia at present and will be an excellent benchmark as to its progress in the future.' Australian Journal of Historical Archaeology