kenb
Bronze Member
Dig at "Kelly's last stand" site
Kelly Gang siege site dig
Last Update: Tuesday, February 12, 2008. 10:52am AEDT
By Narelle Graham
Glenrowan in north east Victoria will soon become a hive of activity as archaeologists investigate the legendary Kelly Gang siege site.
It's expected the dig will attract both Australia-wide and overseas attention.
The Wangaratta Rural City Council has appointed Dig International as the consultant archaeologists to investigate the remnants of the Kelly's Last Stand at the Ann Jones Inn site.
Director of Dig International Adam Ford will run the project in collaboration with Latrobe University.
"Over a period of about four weeks archaeologists will be excavating the site," Adam says.
"We're hoping to find physical remains of the original inn, the Ann Jones Inn and artefacts of the siege that happened there in 1880, that resulted in the death of three members of the Kelly gang and the capture, of course, of Ned Kelly."
Adam has been an archaeologist since 1991 and has been involved in digs in the Middle East, the Caribbean and the U.K. For the past 12 years he's been based in Australia.
"I've worked on some brilliant sites," he says. "Recently I worked on a Chinese market garden site in the goldfields and last year I excavated a shipwreck survivor site on the most remote part of Australia, off Dirk Hartog Island in Western Australia.
"They're all fantastic sites and each has a great element but I think the siege site is pretty much the pinnacle at the moment in terms of historical importance."
Adam is excited to be involved in uncovering evidence of what he considers one of the most widely known events in Australia's history, an event known overseas.
"Ned Kelly is known throughout the world as a bushranger and as this larrikin character. He created some part of the Australian image overseas, that legend of larrikinism and the underdog fighting against authority.
"To have a chance to look at the physical remains of that and add information to the story is very exciting indeed," he says.
The excavation will carry its share of challenges for the team of archaeologists.
The siege in 1880 ended with the pub being burnt down. Since then there's been two other buildings constructed on the site. One of those also burned down.
Adam says there's also been a lot of souveniring by people trying to get a piece of the Ned Kelly story for themselves.
"It's not going to be a pristine site, which is how we'd describe sites that haven't been disturbed since an event," Adam says.
"It's going to be quite a mix of archaeological remains. But I'm still confident we're going to find some really good stuff."
The trick for the team will be to work out the sequence of events to be sure what they find relates to the time of the siege.
"On many sites you get this layering of occupation over a period of time," Adam says.
"In some parts of the world layers can be up to 15 metres thick - making them very complicated sites, this one is going to be complicated because it's going to be quite shallow."
Adam says he expects to find three or four site occupations layered upon each other, but also intertwined. It will make the work slow and delicate.
"The reason we go slowly is that we're trying to look at the soils as much as the physical artefacts and see where those sequence of soils relate to each other and that will give us an indication of the historical development of the site," he says.
The team hopes to find artefacts common to a 19th Century business and commercial site like the inn, such as glassware, pottery and cups and saucers. They hope to find evidence of burning and some remains of the siege.
Last year Adam found a rifle bullet casing near the site, which is believed to be from the siege.
"We've got to remember that it was the battle site so there's a lot of munitions that were flying around during the early part of the siege and so hopefully we'll find some of those.
"Anything to do with the siege will be a significant find. If we can attribute what we find either to the member of the Kelly gang or to the battle it will be or great interest because it puts flesh on the bones of the historic information we already know. It gives us real tangible physical remains of this site."
The time-frame for the dig is still being finalised but Adam believes it will start in May and last for about four weeks.
kenb
Kelly Gang siege site dig
Last Update: Tuesday, February 12, 2008. 10:52am AEDT
By Narelle Graham
Glenrowan in north east Victoria will soon become a hive of activity as archaeologists investigate the legendary Kelly Gang siege site.
It's expected the dig will attract both Australia-wide and overseas attention.
The Wangaratta Rural City Council has appointed Dig International as the consultant archaeologists to investigate the remnants of the Kelly's Last Stand at the Ann Jones Inn site.
Director of Dig International Adam Ford will run the project in collaboration with Latrobe University.
"Over a period of about four weeks archaeologists will be excavating the site," Adam says.
"We're hoping to find physical remains of the original inn, the Ann Jones Inn and artefacts of the siege that happened there in 1880, that resulted in the death of three members of the Kelly gang and the capture, of course, of Ned Kelly."
Adam has been an archaeologist since 1991 and has been involved in digs in the Middle East, the Caribbean and the U.K. For the past 12 years he's been based in Australia.
"I've worked on some brilliant sites," he says. "Recently I worked on a Chinese market garden site in the goldfields and last year I excavated a shipwreck survivor site on the most remote part of Australia, off Dirk Hartog Island in Western Australia.
"They're all fantastic sites and each has a great element but I think the siege site is pretty much the pinnacle at the moment in terms of historical importance."
Adam is excited to be involved in uncovering evidence of what he considers one of the most widely known events in Australia's history, an event known overseas.
"Ned Kelly is known throughout the world as a bushranger and as this larrikin character. He created some part of the Australian image overseas, that legend of larrikinism and the underdog fighting against authority.
"To have a chance to look at the physical remains of that and add information to the story is very exciting indeed," he says.
The excavation will carry its share of challenges for the team of archaeologists.
The siege in 1880 ended with the pub being burnt down. Since then there's been two other buildings constructed on the site. One of those also burned down.
Adam says there's also been a lot of souveniring by people trying to get a piece of the Ned Kelly story for themselves.
"It's not going to be a pristine site, which is how we'd describe sites that haven't been disturbed since an event," Adam says.
"It's going to be quite a mix of archaeological remains. But I'm still confident we're going to find some really good stuff."
The trick for the team will be to work out the sequence of events to be sure what they find relates to the time of the siege.
"On many sites you get this layering of occupation over a period of time," Adam says.
"In some parts of the world layers can be up to 15 metres thick - making them very complicated sites, this one is going to be complicated because it's going to be quite shallow."
Adam says he expects to find three or four site occupations layered upon each other, but also intertwined. It will make the work slow and delicate.
"The reason we go slowly is that we're trying to look at the soils as much as the physical artefacts and see where those sequence of soils relate to each other and that will give us an indication of the historical development of the site," he says.
The team hopes to find artefacts common to a 19th Century business and commercial site like the inn, such as glassware, pottery and cups and saucers. They hope to find evidence of burning and some remains of the siege.
Last year Adam found a rifle bullet casing near the site, which is believed to be from the siege.
"We've got to remember that it was the battle site so there's a lot of munitions that were flying around during the early part of the siege and so hopefully we'll find some of those.
"Anything to do with the siege will be a significant find. If we can attribute what we find either to the member of the Kelly gang or to the battle it will be or great interest because it puts flesh on the bones of the historic information we already know. It gives us real tangible physical remains of this site."
The time-frame for the dig is still being finalised but Adam believes it will start in May and last for about four weeks.
kenb
