What is it like working on Sydneys largest archaeological dig?
Heritage Office archaeologist, Caitlin Allen, put down her pen and picked up a trowel to join an international team of archaeologists excavating the Broadway site in Glebe. Covering two entire city blocks, the site holds evidence of the ordinary lives of Sydneysiders from the early days of settlement. Photograph by Scott Wajon. Image courtesy of Australand. Over 200 years ago Blackwattle Creek was a tidal watercourse flowing through a valley thick with the wattle that gave the area its name. There was abundant fresh water, wildlife, alluvial soil and a swamp. The Cadigal people fished and collected shell fish in the area which was part of their traditional lands. By the beginning of the 19th century Blackwattle Creek was on the edge of the fledgling town of Sydney. Market gardeners had exploited the rich alluvial flats at the headwaters of the creek. When the area was subdivided in the 1820s, publican and wheelwright Thomas May bought land and built a number of slaughter houses. From t
