The archaeological excavations of the Port Arthur Penitentiary were a long-running series of investigations between 2013 – 2016. Managed entirely by Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority and involving a large team of professional archaeologists (see below), these excavations were the largest ever carried out at Port Arthur and some of the largest of a convict site in Australia.

Archaeological work was tied to a programme of conservation, research and interpretation associated with the Penitentiary structure. PAHSMA had received funding to undertake large-scale stabilisation work of the building, with archaeological investigations required to ensure no sub-surface data was lost. Archaeological excavation and monitoring was carried out between 2013 – 2015, with open area excavations of the Penitentiary Ablutions and Laundry precincts undertaken in 2016.

Excavations within the Penitentiary footprint found evidence associated with the earliest phases of convict occupation, when a timber-built waterfront workshops had occupied the space. This was overprinted in 1842 when work began on a large brick flour mill and granary. Investigations found evidence of the water management infrastructure associated with the big 30 ft (9m) waterwheel, as well as provided information on the building’s construction. From 1852 the whole structure was converted into a Penitentiary, with excavation finding evidence of the conversion work – much of which had stripped out evidence of the building’s former use.

During 2016 an area over 800m² was stripped back to expose the Penitentiary’s Ablutions and Laundry areas. Investigation found that the former had passed through two distinct design phases, moving from a relatively inefficient arrangement of yards and amenities blocks, to a layout that encouraged better management of people. The Laundry had similarly passed through different phases.

A vast amount of material culture was recovered from all the excavation, hinting at the daily lives of the convicts and administrators who had used the space. Apart from detritus associated with the post-1877 demolition of the structures, the most ubiquitous objects were clay smoking pipe fragments. Well-behaved convicts were issued a small amount of tobacco, the item also being a hot commodity on the black market. Pipes would have been smoked in the yards and the Day Room. Another interesting type of object was the token, potentially used for gaming or gambling. Both types of activity were strictly against regulations, the presence of these artefacts hinting at Port Arthur’s illicit prison culture.

If you’d like to know more, a book was produced all about the history and archaeology of the Penitentiary, see the related publication Recovering Convict Lives

Project personnel

David Roe (excavation director, PAHSMA)

Sylvana Szydzik (post-excavation artefact curation)

Richard Tuffin (excavation director [2016], reporting, mapping and illustrations, book production)

Ash Matic (excavation director [2013-2015])

E Jeanne Harris (artefact specialist [2016])

None of this would have been possible without the dedicated archaeologists and volunteers who worked on the excavation in the first place:

Excavation team (ablutions area): Laura Bates, Lauren Davison, Jeanne Harris, Rhiannon Slicer-Jones, Henry Lion, Ronan McEleney, Fiona Shanahan, Zvonka Stanin.

Excavation team (laundry area): Laura Bates, Emma Church, Lauren Davison, Josh Gaunt, Adam Pietrzak, Michelle Richards, Sam Thomas.

PAHSMA staff (past and present): Nicky Corbett, Burnell, Matt Dillon, John Featherstone, John Hack, Jane Harrington, Susan Hood, Naomi Jeffs, Stephen Large, Marty Passingham, Gareath Plummer, Ted Plummer, Michael Smith, Jody Steele, Caitlin Vertigan, Annita Waghorn, Peter Williams.

Photogrammetry expert: Peter Rigozzi

2013 volunteers: Adelia Tan, Ané van der Walt, Ben James, Bob Stone, Bronwyn Woff, Charlotte Gardner, Chelsea Morgan ,Chris Burbury, Fiona Shanahan, James Cole ,Jeffrey Pearson, Lauren Davidson, Leah Ralph, Megan Rowland, Najat Skeate, Pamela Chauvel, Steven Hall, Teagan Lane.

The members of Conservation Volunteers Australia, under the supervision of John Hueston.