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Navel Gazing

Parramatta, lands of the Burramattagal people, site of Australia’s second colonial settlement, temporary home to a transient and dusty bunch of archaeologists. While archaeologists have been sifting through the dust of Parramatta for decades, the State Government’s plan to re-elevate Parramatta as part of the Sydney Metropolis, has meant that Parramatta’s past is being uncovered at speed and by many. 


Archaeology is interpretation. Digging is interpretation. How we feel and what we are going through is brought to site every day. But site diaries tend to only record the weather, the daily activities, whose on site and what was found. Site diaries don’t record the feelings of those digging. 


Archaeology is (mostly) a career chosen out of passion (none of us are paid enough for the amount of mud we spent our days in?), a passion (on most days) we bring to site. But where does all this feeling go? Does it get captured in the reams of paperwork produced? What about the experiences of being in a particular place for a short but intense period of time? 


This piece is my experience of being in Parramatta, perhaps a bit like Groundhog Day. It is part site diary, capturing my musings/ thoughts/ feelings that don’t make it into the daily notes I keep on site. It is in part a snapshot of Parramatta as it transitions from suburban hub to (sub)urban metropolis. And it is part personal reflection on the experience of working in Parramatta now. It is very much inspired by and an ode to Paul Everill’s study Invisible Diggers.


In telling a colleague about this piece, they told me that they navigate through Parramatta by its surviving Georgian street plan and the many sites they’ve excavated. No doubt this is something many of us do as we wander the places we live and work in. I mainly navigate by coffee and op-shops (charity shops), you never know where you might find something you probably didn't need but very much now want...




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