Christine Williamson
Current position
Director, Christine Williamson Heritage Consultants
Where did you study?
La Trobe University: BA (hons) Grad. Dip (Archaeology), PhD
How did you become interested in archaeology?
When I was in year 7, I had a wonderful history teacher. Our homework consisted of things like building a model Sumerian house and writing a diary as if we were an ancient Egyptian girl. Being a bit ‘crafty’, I loved these assignments and realised that this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I decided then that I wanted to be an archaeologist, and never veered from that path. I possibly should mention two things: (1) I am an Aries and a bit pig headed, hence the ‘never veering from that path’ attitude, and (2) my work life has so far not involved building a model Sumerian house.
What archaeological projects are you working on at the moment?
As the director of a company, I work on lots of different projects. On some of them I am the main person and on others I just lend a helping hand. Currently I am involved in preparing artefacts displays for a couple of new buildings in the Melbourne CBD. These buildings are located on sites where archaeological excavations took place and the artefacts that will be displayed are from these excavations. I am also working on the artefacts from several historic sites and a number of Aboriginal archaeological places and writing up reports discussing all the interesting finds and what they tell us about the people who lived at these places.
Tell us about one of your most interesting archaeological discoveries.
For me the finds that get me the most excited are the little things that give me an intimate glimpse into someone’s life. I think I am just a sticky beak, and I want to understand people and their stories and know how and why they did certain things. Whenever I look at an artefact, I am thinking things like, ‘How did someone use you? Why did they throw you away?’. One of my favourite artefacts was a small gold ring with the word ‘LOVE’ engraved on the inside surface. It was found in a nineteenth-century toilet pit and I always wondered how and why it got there. Did a woman throw it down the toilet when she was angry with her husband?
Tell us about a funny / disastrous / amazing experience that you have had while doing archaeology.
I was with a team doing some fieldwork in far northeast Queensland. The only way to get to the river valley we wanted to survey was to walk through the rainforest, and that walk was about 10 hours. 10 hours carrying our tents, sleeping bags, personal item and all the food we would need for 2 weeks. We didn’t manage to make the walk in a single day, and so had to set up a makeshift camp as it began to get dark. I set up my little hiking tent and, exhausted after a long way of walking, undressed in the dark and crawled into my brand new, white cotton sleeping bag inner sheet. I woke up next morning to find my white sheet covered in blood. I was absolutely horrified as it liked like an axe murder had taken place in my tent during the night. Because it was dark when I went to bed, and I was so tired I was almost comatose, I hadn’t noticed all the leeches on my body. They had fed on me during the night, only to be squished as I rolled on them on my sleep.
What’s your favourite part of being an archaeologist?
I love working with a team of people who are as nerdy about history and archaeology as I am. I also like when you meet someone new and they ask you what you do and you can causally say, ‘oh, I am an archaeologist’. People are always amazed and think you are so cool. I’m not, but they don’t need to know that!
Follow up reading.
Christine Williamson Heritage Consultants website and Facebook page and Linked In page.