The Commonwealth Block, Melbourne

A Historical Archaeology

Tim Murray, Kristal Buckley, Dr Sarah Hayes , Geoff Hewitt

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English

Sydney University Press
01 March 2019

History; Archaeology by period & region

Series: Studies in Australasian Historical Archaeology

For much of the 19th and 20th centuries, Melbourne's Little Lonsdale - 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.

By: Tim Murray, Kristal Buckley, Dr Sarah Hayes, Geoff Hewitt, Justin McCarthy
Imprint: Sydney University Press
Country of Publication: Australia
Volume: 7
Dimensions: Height: 297mm, Width: 210mm, Spine: 8mm
Weight: 400g
ISBN: 9781743323694
ISBN 10: 1743323697
Series: Studies in Australasian Historical Archaeology
Pages: 154
Publication Date: 01 March 2019
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

List of figures List of plates About the authors 1. Introduction and context Tim Murray 2. Agencies of change: government perspectives on Little Lon Kristal Buckley and Jeremy Smith 3. The first campaign: Little Lon Justin McCarthy 4. Assemblage analysis and outcomes: phase 1 Tim Murray 5. Smaller investigations between phase 1 and phase 2 Tim Murray 6. The second campaign: Casselden Place Richard Mackay 7. Assemblage analysis and outcomes: phase 2 Tim Murray 8. Little Lon and Museum Victoria: a tale of benign neglect, restoration and a bright future Charlotte Smith 9. Diversity and change in Little Lon: ongoing historical and archaeological research Sarah Hayes and Barbara Minchinton 10. An update on the Commonwealth Block project: a second phase of targeted feature cataloguing Bronwyn Woff 11. The 2017 excavations: 271 Spring Street, Melbourne Geoff Hewitt 12. Little Lon and the archaeology of the modern world Tim Murray Plates Index

Reviews for The Commonwealth Block, Melbourne: A Historical Archaeology

' ... the authors provide several different research angles and cover a wide range of topics and themes that revolve around the Little Lon project. The outcome of this book is a detailed synthesis of research addressing a variety of themes that exist within Australian historical archaeology and urban archaeology.' -- Hannah Craig-Ward * Australasian Historical Archaeology * Where the volume excels is in showing the extraordinary growth and development of Australian historical archaeology since the late 1980s ... As a summary of site history (in both senses), method, and theory, it has considerable merit -- Alasdair Brooks * Post-Medieval Archaeology * Overall this is a valuable addition to the greater corpus of material relating to Little Lon, which helps to contextualise and understand the development of the project over time. Anyone with an interest in urban archaeology and subaltern people will benefit from reading this. -- Sean Winter * Australian Archaeology *