/collections/all.atom Õ¬Äе¼º½ 2019-03-23T04:01:18+11:00 Õ¬Äе¼º½ /products/1739515592747 2019-03-23T04:01:18+11:00 2019-03-23T04:01:18+11:00 The Commonwealth Block, Melbourne Paperback Õ¬Äе¼º½

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Price: 45.00

For much of the 19th and 20th centuries, Melbourne’s Little Lonsdale Street – locally known as ‘Little Lon’ – was notorious as a foul slum and brothel district, occupied by the itinerant and the criminal. The stereotype of ‘slumdom’ defined ‘Little Lon’ in the minds of Melbournians, and became entrenched in Australian literature and popular culture.

The Commonwealth Block, Melbourne tells a different story. This ground-breaking book reports on almost three decades of excavations conducted on the Commonwealth Block – the area of central Melbourne bordered by Little Lonsdale, Lonsdale, Exhibition and Spring streets. Since the 1980s, archaeologists and historians have pieced together the rich and complex history of this area, revealing a working-class and immigrant community that was much more than just a slum. The Commonwealth Block, Melbourne delves into the complex social, cultural and economic history of this forgotten community.

Each chapter is authored by researchers who were responsible for the management and execution of the excavations and analysis of the Block. The authors outline the history and methodology of each stage of the project, and consider changes in theory and method (and inspiration and aspiration) in response to other studies, and to the changing disciplinary context of urban archaeology. This book makes an important contribution to the archaeology of the modern city.

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Archaeology Edition_P-Paperback local history Melbourne meta-related-collection-work-83151 Paperback Studies in Australasian Historical Archaeology Subject_A-Archaeology /products/1739515592747 Default Title 45.00 0
/products/1701150687275 2019-02-15T04:08:13+11:00 2019-02-15T04:08:13+11:00 Flashy, Fun and Functional Paperback Õ¬Äе¼º½

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Price: 40.00

Against the backdrop of embryonic Melbourne, John Thomas Smith left behind his currency roots to become an influential member of society. A widely recognised figure about town smoking a cutty pipe and wearing a white top hat, in 1851 he became Lord Mayor of Melbourne; he went on to be re-elected seven times. His scandalous marriage to the daughter of an Irish Catholic publican, however, and his awkwardly appropriated gentility, made him unpopular with certain sections of society. From 1849 to 1860 Smith and his family occupied 300 Queen Street, Melbourne, one of the first true residential townhouses in the city. Flashy, Fun and Functional: How Things Helped to Invent Melbourne’s Gold Rush Mayor explores the things they left behind.

Excavations at the site in 1982 by Judy Birmingham and Associates uncovered a rich and important archaeological record of the Smiths’ lives in the form of a cesspit rubbish deposit. The recovered artefacts can be used to examine the distinctive way the Smith family used material culture to negotiate their position in colonial society. Popular decoration styles and expensive materials suggest the family’s efforts to secure their newly obtained social status. The artefacts evoke the turmoil, volatility and opportunity of life in the first decades of the colony at Port Phillip. They provide an example of the possibility of social mobility in the colony, but also of the challenges of navigating the customs of a newly forming society. ]]>
Archaeology Edition_P-Paperback meta-related-collection-work-77914 Paperback Studies in Australasian Historical Archaeology Subject_A-Archaeology /products/1701150687275 Default Title 40.00 255
/products/1701140955179 2019-02-15T04:04:37+11:00 2019-02-15T04:04:37+11:00 Good Taste, Fashion, Luxury Paperback Õ¬Äе¼º½

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Type: Paperback
Price: 45.00

This colonial archaeological study examines the artefacts recovered from the estate of an early, middle-class immigrant family to Melbourne. ]]>
Archaeology Australian history Edition_P-Paperback Material culture meta-related-collection-work-51761 open access Paperback Social sciences Studies in Australasian Historical Archaeology Subject_A-Archaeology /products/1701140955179 Default Title 45.00 335