Archaeology of Institutional Confinement : : The Hyde Park Barracks, 1848-1886 / / Peter Davies, Penny Crook, Tim Murray.

• Superior document: Studies in Australasian historical archaeology ; v. 4
• VerfasserIn: Davies, Peter,; Crook, Penny,; Murray, Tim,
• TeilnehmendeR: Crook, Penny,; Murray, Tim,
• Place / Publishing House: N.S.W. : : University of Sydney,, 2013.
• Year of Publication: 2013
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Studies in Australasian historical archaeology ; v. 4.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (132 pages).

The archaeological assemblage from the Hyde Park Barracks is one of the largest, most comprehensive and best preserved collections of artifacts from any 19th-century institution in the world. Concealed for up to 160 years in the cavities between floorboards and ceilings, the assemblage is a unique archaeological record of institutional confinement, especially of women. The underfloor assemblage dates to the period 1848 to 1886, during which a female Immigration Depot and a Government Asylum for Infirm and Destitute Women occupied the second and third floors of the Barracks. Over the years the women discarded and swept beneath the floor thousands of clothing and textile fragments, tobacco pipes, religious items, sewing equipment, paper scraps and numerous other objects, many of which rarely occur in typical archaeological deposits. These items are presented in detail in this book, and provide unique insight into the private lives of young female migrants and elderly destitute women, most of whom will never beknown from historical records.

Table of Contents

List of figures List of tables -- Abbreviations -- Acknowledgements -- Preamble -- 1. Introduction -- 2. The underfloor assemblage of the Hyde Park Barracks -- 3. Charity and immigration in 19th-century NSW -- 4. The workings of an institution -- 5. Daily life in the asylum -- 6. Private lives -- 7. The archaeology of 19th-century institutions -- Appendix 1: institutional occupants of the Hyde Park Barracks -- Appendix 2: inmates from the Destitute Asylum -- Appendix 3: artefact fragment counts from excavated deposits in level 1 of the main building and peripheral areas -- References -- Index.