‘I Felt Connected to a Past World’: A Survey of Visitors to Colonial Archaeological Sites Conserved In Situ in Australia and New Zealand

Abstract

While there is extensive international literature on the technology and techniques of archaeological conservation and preservation in situ, there has been only limited discussion of the meanings of the places created and the responses they evoke in visitors. Experience in Australia and New Zealand over the past decade suggests that the conservation of colonial archaeological remains is today seen as a far more desirable option, whereas previously many would have suggested that this kind of conservation was only appropriate in ‘old world’ places like Greece and Italy; and that the archaeology of the colonial period was not old enough to be of value. This paper discusses a recent survey of visitors to colonial archaeological sites which reveals some of the ways in which these archaeological remains are experienced, valued, and understood, and gives some clues as to why conservation in situ is an expanding genre of heritage in this region. The visitors surveyed value colonial archaeological sites conserved in situ for the link they provide to place, locality, and memory; for the feeling of connection with the past they evoke; and for the experience they provide of intimacy with material relics from the past. This emphasis on the affective qualities of archaeological remains raises some issues in the post-colonial context, as it tends to reinforce received narratives of identity and history, and relies on the ‘European’ antiquarian appreciation of ruins — making the urban environment more like Europe by creating evidence of similar historical layering.

Keywords:

• in situ conservation
• colonial heritage
• settler heritage
• authenticity

I gratefully acknowledge the funding for this research provided by the University of Canberra and the contributions of Sarah Webeck, for research assistance, and Beaux Guarini for the poster design for the PARIS IV conference in Copenhagen. I also thank two anonymous referees who provided valuable advice which improved the paper substantially.

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Notes on contributors

Tracy Ireland

Tracy Ireland is Director of the Donald Horne Institute for Cultural Heritage at the University of Canberra. Her PhD centred on the relationships between archaeology, heritage conservation, and nationalism, and she has published on archaeological heritage management, landscapes, social significance, and indigenous historic sites in Australia. She is currently working on a series on Ethics and Archaeology for Springer.

Correspondence to: Tracy Ireland. Email: [email protected]