Daphna Levin-Kahn – Co-ordinator Jewish Studies High School

Year 9 Archaeology Students Meet 19^th Century Convict

Last Friday, our adventurous Year 9 students in the “Israel through Archaeology” Elective braved the rain to explore some of Sydney’s early colonial history at the Big Dig Archaeological Education Centre in the Rocks.

The excursion to The Rocks was a very interesting and enlightening experience that opened my eyes to the history of the city I live in. I had no idea that Sydney had archaeological sites that could be explored and so this excursion really showed me how Sydney developed and allowed me to delve into the culture that Sydney in 19^th century experienced. I was most interested in the site at Dawes Point, as I had seen these cannons before, but had never known the story behind them. It also amazed me to explore the underground military area that was still intact from when it was built 170 years prior. I enjoyed the site tour because it transformed a pile of rocks and made them alive again. It allowed me to truly understand how people lived at this time and enabled me to picture this 19^th century neighbourhood in an area full of high-rise buildings and hotels, and especially the life of George Cribb, a man that I did not know existed.

Jonathan Sebban

I enjoyed going to an Archaeological dig and seeing all the ruins and remains that these people left behind, as well as learning about their wealth status. I learned about George Cribb and his job and family through the historical and archaeological evidence. To me the gunpowder chambers were most interesting (archaeological site), as we found out what they did with the gunpowder and how they had to build the chambers to suit the gunpowder’s needs. I learned that not all the archaeologists get the same results and they sometimes don’t agree on what happened.

Rachel Zwarenstein

I enjoyed going underground into the tunnel and exploring an archaeological site underground. I never would have thought there was something like that under our feet, so it added to my interest… Going down to the gunpowder storage room really gave me a good idea of what it was like to work there.

Elia Berelekhis and Lachlan Corne

I found it interesting to learn that even wealthy people, such as George Cribb, lived in tiny cramped houses, as everyone lived and slept the same way at that time.

Marc Kanevsky

We most enjoyed sorting the artefacts by material because we got to see all of the different materials they owned at the time, and looking at and imagining how certain artefacts were made and used over a hundred years ago.

Danielle Rutstein and Maia Perl