Recovering Convict Lives - A Historical Archaeology of the Port Arthur Penitentiary

The World Heritage-listed Port Arthur penitentiary is one of Australia's most visited historical sites, attracting over 400,000 visitors each year. Designed to incarcerate 480 men, between 1856 and 1877 thousands of convicts passed through it.

In 2016, archaeologists began one of the largest ever excavations of an Australian convict site. Recovering Convict Lives: Historical Archaeology of the Port Arthur Penitentiary makes their findings available to general readers for the first time. Extensively illustrated, it is a fascinating journey into the inner workings of the penal system and the day-to-day lives of Port Arthur convicts.

Through the things they left behind - the sandstone base of a prison wall, a clay pipe discarded in a washroom, gambling tokens dropped between floorboards - this book tells their stories.

Praise for Recovering Convict Lives

'In this richly illustrated volume readers will be taken on an archaeological tour of a lost world of work, leisure and punishment. A forensic reconstruction of one of Australia's most iconic buildings, Recovering Convict Lives peels away the layers of time to reveal the hidden history of everyday life in a penal station.'

- Professor Hamish Maxwell-Stewart, author of Closing Hell's Gates

About the author

Richard Tuffin is a historical archaeologist currently working as a Research Fellow at the University of New England. He has worked as a research and commercial archaeologist in Australia, the Pacific and the UK.

Product details

• Authors: E. Jeanne Harris, Ashley Matic, David Roe, Sylvana Szydzik, Richard Tuffin
• Publisher: Sydney University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 30.11.2021
• EAN: 9781743327821
• ISBN: 978-1-74332-782-1
• No. of pages: 300
• Dimensions: 178 mm x 254 mm x 16 mm
• Weight: 569 g
• Series: Studies in Australasian Historical Archaeology; Studies in Australasian Histor
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Pre and early history; Social sciences, law, business > Social sciences (general)