Bronwyn Woff
Current position
Historic Artefact Specialist, Christine Williamson Heritage Consultants
Where did you study?
La Trobe University: Bachelor of Archaeology (Hons)
How did you become interested in archaeology?
Two words: Time Team. I used to watch Time Team after school religiously. How could someone not be enthralled by the 3-day excavations that they undertook? It had everything: action, adventure, history and a great selection of knitted jumpers!
Coming from a small rural town and going into uni I didn’t realise you could do archaeology in Australia, so I was on the path to becoming a history teacher. Luckily, I did an “Intro to Archaeology” class in first year. I was sold. I transferred into the Bachelor of Archaeology and the rest, as they say, is history.
What archaeological projects are you working on at the moment?
My main role is to identify, catalogue, analyse and report on historic artefacts that are uncovered during excavations. At the moment I’m working on two sites, one from Melbourne and one from Sydney. I’ve just finished the cataloguing phases of both, so now I’m into the research phase, putting together information on what artefacts are there and how old they are. After this I’ll put everything together to form an interpretation of what people were doing at the site, who they were and how they lived day to day.
Tell us about one of your most interesting archaeological discoveries.
Everyone asks the same question when I say I’m an archaeologist/artefact specialist: Have you found any gold?? Sadly not.
My favourite find is actually quite a simple one. But it’s an experience which solidified my want to work with artefacts.
As a student on a field school (where you’re taught how to dig properly) I excavated a round, slightly domed piece of metal. Everyone thought it was the bottom of a tin can, but I thought it looked like part of a pocket watch. I put it in the tray and kept digging. Later that day a local, a man perhaps in his 80s, came along and saw my find in the tray. He picked it up and proceeded to pull his pocket watch out of his pocket. It matched exactly. I was so chuffed that I had known what it was, and it fuelled my desire to learn more about artefacts!
Tell us about a funny / disastrous / amazing experience that you have had while doing archaeology.
I was excavating a historic site in the city. We had security fencing up, so people could see through the wire and ask us questions if we were close enough for them to get our attention. We had some great conversations with members of the public, especially with people who worked in the area or were watching us from high up in their office buildings and came to ask us what was going on. But the most memorable comment from the public happened while we were having tea break outside the site hut at the back of the site. A man at the front of the site yelled through the fence across the site: “Oi! Have you found any dinosaur eggs?! I hear they’re good eatin’ !”
What’s your favourite part of being an archaeologist?
I enjoy the challenge of being an artefact specialist, and the fact that I’m always learning. There’s never a point which you know everything. When I go to new places I’m always looking for new “stuff” that I’ve never seen before, especially if that new place has a historical edge to it. I love wandering around antique and op-shops and checking out what they’ve got, how it worked and figuring out what sort of people would have or use that thing. It gives me a different perspective on the world and the people and stuff in it.
Follow up reading.
Christine Williamson Heritage Consultants website and Facebook page.
Insta: @artefrag_analysis