Felicity Barry

Current position:

Senior Environment Officer (Heritage) at Transport for NSW (TfNSW)

Where did you study?

Sydney University

How did you become interested in archaeology?

Year 11 ancient history class. We had to research and write about an archaeological site. I realised archaeology could make history come to life as a record of what people did, not just what someone said they did.

What archaeological projects are you working on at the moment?

In my role I review and provide feedback on archaeological assessments, excavation methodologies and review excavation reports for a range of projects at TfNSW.

Tell us about one of your most interesting archaeological discoveries.

Rejoining (conjoining) many pieces of stone (chert) to understand how someone had made a series of stone tools from Torquay in Victoria. Such skill and knowledge went into that process.

Finding a sandstone cellar dating from the early 1800s, being used to store junk underneath a car shop which wasn't expected to survive. Make sure you inspect a place properly!

Tell us about a funny / disastrous / amazing experience that you have had while doing archaeology.

Learning to carry a rubber car mat to climb over electric cattle fences while on field surveys!

What’s your favourite part of being an archaeologist?

Asking questions and learning and refining skills and understanding. How do we know what we think we do? Do we need to reassess that view and on what basis?

Follow up reading.

There are lots of great resources available through Heritage NSW, especially archaeological management plans across NSW (for historical archaeology).

There is also a growing body of Aboriginal archaeological cultural heritage management plans in NSW.

Look them up and have a read, there's heaps to learn, and the best place to start is to ask lots of questions!