Katarina Jerbic

Current position

Senior Archaeologist at Everick Heritage

Where did you study? 

I finished my double Masters in Archaeology and Ethnology at the University of Zagreb (Croatia) in 2009 and my PhD in Maritime Archaeology at Flinders University in Adelaide.

How did you become interested in archaeology? 

I was very influenced by my father who used to tell me (kids friendly versions!) of the Greek myths as bedtime stories. I was fascinated by the fact that the myths represented a window into early human memories, knowledge and wisdom. As I grew older, I loved learning and reading about ancient civilisations as well as early human art and crafts, which then further developed into a scientific interest into early human history, especially within my homeland - Croatia. Studying archaeology was my one and only wish by the time I was 18 – it was simply meant to be. I worked and lived as an archaeologist in Croatia for more than 15 years, and then came to Australia to start my PhD in 2016. Learning about Australian archaeology and cultural heritage has opened my mind – the richness of cultures and deep connections to the past within these lands brought me back to my original fascination and connection with ancient wisdom.

What archaeological projects are you working on at the moment? 

I am not working on any particular project at the moment, but I am currently in the process of publishing research articles derived from my PhD thesis.

Tell us about one of your most interesting archaeological discoveries. 

I found pottery fragments in a sediment core that I sampled for my PhD. The core was from a 3-metre-deep sea bed, and I found the pottery at around 1 metre deep into the sediments in a layer of ash and charcoal. Fire under water – impossible, right? Well, it was what I was hoping for. The site I was working on for my PhD is a 6000-year old settlement, which is now submerged under the Adriatic Sea in Croatia due to the sea-level uplift which happened after the most recent Ice Age.

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

In 2012 and 2013 I was working on a very long and complex construction project in Pula, a 2000- year-old town in Croatia. The entire sewer infrastructure in the old town had to be replaced. I was working as an archaeological supervisor on the project, doing day and night shifts for 18 months. It was a very exhausting and highly demanding operation. One very cold and icy winter day, I was standing next to a giant excavator and supervising the dig of a 7-metre deep and about 10-metre wide trench. I thought it would be just a ‘normal’ day – as normal as it could be considering the circumstances. I suddenly started noticing pieces of wood sticking out of the excavated pile. It was a bit strange and unexpected, so I stopped the excavator for ‘just a couple of minutes’ to check what’s being disturbed. I was expecting some old architectural remains, or maybe the remnants of the old sewer building infrastructure. I definitely did not expect to discover a 2000-year-old wooden Roman boat that day, which is exactly what happened. Those ‘couple of minutes’ turned into a separate 40-day intense rescue excavation project, and I ended up being the afternoon/evening shift supervisor for the entire period. In the end, the findings turned out to be two Roman boats. They were perfectly preserved and full of incredible artefacts and finds such as baskets, wooden boxes, ropes and thousands of amphorae fragments. It was truly an amazing experience – and it was all because I stopped the excavator. It would have crushed the whole thing on that cold winter day had I not been paying attention!

What’s your favourite part of being an archaeologist? 

Having an outdoor and indoor office, and working closely with people from all walks of life while doing what I love. Going on conferences all over the world and sharing knowledge and experience with my peers. We archaeologists are a lucky bunch.