Harrietville Chinese Mining Village

Location: Harrietville VIC 3741, Australia

Season: September 28, 2020 to October 24, 2020

Session Dates: Week 1 - Monday 28 September to Saturday 3 October Week 2 - Monday 5 October to Saturday 10 October Week 3 - Monday 12 October to Saturday 17 October Week 4 - Monday 19 October to Saturday 24 October

Deadline Type: Contact for Details

Website: https://www.uncoveredpast.org.au/

Program Type:
Field School

RPA Certified:
No

Project Director:
Geoff Hewitt

Project Description:

Join us to discover more about the Chinese miners who once lived and worked in the 19th century Harrietville Chinese Mining Village. For around fifty years from the early 1860s Harrietville was home to many of the thousands of Victoria’s Chinese gold miners. This will be the third season of archaeological excavation at the Chinese Mining Village, following the successful first and second seasons in October 2017 and October 2019. The largely undisturbed site includes mine workings, water races, building foundations, and gardens: a rare survivor of the heyday of Chinese gold mining in Victoria. The foundations of at least 19 buildings were discovered during a survey undertaken during Season One fieldwork in 2017. Huge quantities of food, liquor, medicines, utensils, ceramics and even coins were imported from China for the Chinese mining communities. Many fragments of these were discovered during the first two excavation seasons in 2017 and 2019, along with fragments of European tableware ceramics and glass bottles. Season Three research objectives will be to undertake more extensive excavations on a variety of building sites and gain a greater understanding of the lifestyle of the Chinese miners.

Period(s) of Occupation: 19th Century

Project Size: 25-49 participants

Minimum Length of Stay for Volunteers: 6 Days

Minimum Age: 18

Experience Required: No

Room and Board Arrangements:
Not included but have options for low cost share accommodation

Academic Credit:
Please contact us