Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Archaeology of Resilience: A Case Study from Peel Town, Western Australia, 1829–30

  • Published:
International Journal of Historical Archaeology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper describes the archaeology of one family’s tolerance to the stressors associated with the settlement of a new place. Artifacts associated with the maintenance of clothing suggest that a British family newly arrived at the Swan River colony in the southwest of Australia had the ability to remain composed during a period of reduced resources and psychological strain. The family’s ability to resist stress was probably the result of the social knowledge gained during previous experiences with internal migration in the British Isles during a time of high social dislocation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adams, P. R. and Adams, G. R. (1984). Mount Saint Helen’s ash-fall: evidence for a disaster stress reaction. American Psychologist 39: 252−260.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aldrete, G. S. (2004). Daily Life in the Roman City: Rome, Pompeii, and Ostia. Greenwood Press, Westport, CT.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allen, C. (2002). Gender in the Archaeological Record at Guildford Gaol and Police Station. Honours thesis, University of Western Australia, Nedlands.

  • Apoh, W. (2013). The archaeology of the German and British colonial entanglements in Kpando-Ghana. Journal of Historical Archaeology 17(2): 351−375.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnes, J. I. (2011). An archaeology of community life: Appalachia, 1865–1920. International Journal of Historical Archaeology 15(4): 669−706.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bayly, G. (1831). Journals of Voyages on the Hooghly, 1830–1842. ACC 5106A/3, State Library of Western Australia, Perth.

  • Beaudry, M. C. (2006). Findings: The Material Culture of Needlework and Sewing. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT.

    Google Scholar 

  • Belich, J. (2011). Replenishing the Earth: the settler revolution and the rise of the Anglo-world, 1783–1939. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blaikie, P., Cannon, T., Davis, I., and Wosner, B. (1994). At Risk: Natural Hazards, People's Vulnerability, and Disasters. Routledge, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brooks, A. (2015). Introduction. In Brooks, A. (ed.), The Importance of British Material Culture to Historical Archaeologies of the Nineteenth Century. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, 1−28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burke, S. (2016). A culture for all: servant class behaviour at the Swan River in the context of the British Empire. Studies in Western Australian History 31: 25−40.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burke, S. (2017). “Should We Have Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata...or a Hot Dinner?” resource stress as an alternative to the abandonment of Peel Town, Swan River Colony, 1829–1830. Historical Archaeology 51: 23−45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Casey, M. (2004). Falling through the cracks: method and practice at the CSR Site, Pyrmont. Australasian Historical Archaeology 22: 27−43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Centre for Microscopy, Characterisation and Analysis. (2021). Backscatter electron image of thimble PT000103. University of Western Australia.

  • Collie, A. (1830). Report of an Enquiry into the Causes of Sickness Recently Represented to the Magistrates in Quarter Session Assembled, to Exist among Thomas Peels Settlers at, or in the Neighbourhood of, Clarence and of Measures which May Be Adopted for Alleviating It, 25 July. Volume 8, Letter 20–21, Consignment 36, Series No. AU WA S2941, State Records Office of Western Australia, Perth.

  • Dance, W. T. (1830). Informing His Excellency that His Wish Shall Be Complied with, Respecting the Surgeon Proceeding to Clarence, 20 July. Volume 7, Letter 200, Consignment 36, Series No. AU WA S2941, State Records Office of Western Australia, Perth.

  • Davidson, J. M. (2020). Black and white beads in the African Diaspora. Historical Archaeology 54(4): 681−737.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davies, P. (2010). Women and work at the Hyde Park Barracks Destitute Asylum, Sydney. Australasian Historical Archaeology 28: 13−23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davies, P. (2015). Mistress of her domain: Matron Hicks and the Hyde Park Destitute Asylum, Sydney, Australia. International Journal of Historical Archaeology 19(3): 552−567.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deagan, K. (1987). Artifacts of the Spanish Colonies of Florida and the Caribbean, 1500–1800, Volume 1, Ceramic, Glassware and Beads. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC.

  • Deagan, K. (2002). Artifacts of the Spanish Colonies of Florida and the Caribbean, 1500–1800, Volume 2, Portable Personal Possessions. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC.

  • Dixon, K. J., Schablitsky, J. M., and Novak, S. A. (2011). An Archaeology of Desperation: Exploring the Donner Party’s Alder Creek Camp. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Driessen, J. (2002). Towards an archaeology of crisis: defining the long-term impact of the Bronze Age Santorini eruption. In Torrence, R. and Grattan, J. (eds.), Natural Disaster and Cultural Change. Routledge, London, pp. 250−263.

    Google Scholar 

  • Driessen, J. and Macdonald, C. (1997). The Troubled Island: Minoan Crete before and after the Santorini Eruption. Université de Liège, Liège.

  • Dunnage, G. (1831). Account Book. Call No. ACC 297A, State Library of Western Australia, Perth.

  • Dutton, H. I. and Jones, S. R. H. (1983). Invention and innovation in the British pin industry. Business History Review 57(2): 175−193.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Erickson, R. (1988). The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians Pre-1829–1888, Volume 1. University of Western Australia Press, Nedlands.

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans, E. J. (1993). Britain before the Reform Act: Politics and Society, 1815–1832. Longman, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fennell, C. C. (2000). Conjuring boundaries: inferring past identities from religious artifacts. International Journal of Historical Archaeology 4(4): 281−313.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frederick, C. (1987). Psychic trauma in victims of crime and terrorism. In VandenBos, G. and Bryant, B. (eds.), Cataclysm, Crises and Catastrophes: Psychology in Action. American Psychological Association, Washington, DC, pp. 59−108.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frey, B. S., Savage, D. A., and Torgler, B. (2011). The Titanic disaster. Journal of Economic Perspectives 25(1): 209−221.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gibbs, M. (2002). Maritime archaeology and behaviour during crisis: the wreck of the VOC ship Batavia (1629). In Torrence, R. and Grattan, J. (eds.), Natural Disaster and Cultural Change. Routledge, London, pp. 66−86.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibbs, M. (2003). The archaeology of crisis: shipwreck survivor camps in Australasia. Historical Archaeology 37(1): 128−145.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gill, R. B. (2000). The Great Maya Droughts: Water, Life, and Death. University of New Mexico, Press, Albuquerque.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilpin, L. and Carver, G. (1993). Paleoseismicity of the SW extent of the 1964 Alaskan earthquake rupture zone, Kodiak Island, Alaska. EOS Transactions of the American Geophysical Union 74: 402.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gould, R. (2007). Disaster Archaeology. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gonzalez, A. and Bell, G. (2013). Evolutionary rescue and adaptation to abrupt environment change depends upon the history of stress. Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences 368(1610): 1−6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grayson D. K. (1990). Donner Party deaths: a demographic assessment. Journal of Anthropological Research 46: 223−242.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heal, L. (1988). Jane Dodds 1788–1844: A Swan River Colony Pioneer. Book Publication Services, Sydney.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hill, E. (1995). Thimbles and thimble rings from the Circum-Caribbean region, 1500–1800: chronology and identification. Historical Archaeology 29(1): 84−92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hobsbawm, E. J. and Rudé, G. (1970). Captain Swing. Lawrence and Wishart, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Houart, V. (1977). Buttons: A Guide for the Collector. Souvenir Press, London.

  • Iannone, G. (2013). The Great Maya Droughts in Cultural Context: Case Studies in Resilience and Vulnerability. University Press of Colorado, Boulder.

    Google Scholar 

  • Inquirer and Commercial News. (1870). Died, 12 June, Perth, Western Australia, p. 2. < https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/66031616?searchTerm=Crisp>, accessed January 2021.

  • Johnson, M. (2003). Muffling inclusiveness: some notes towards an archaeology of the British. In Lawrence, S. (ed.), Archaeologies of the British: Exploration of Identity in Great Britain and Its Colonies, 1600–1945. Routledge, London, pp. 17−30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Karklins, K. (1985). Glass Beads: The 19th Century Levin Catalogue and Venetian Bead Book and Guide to Description of Glass Beads. National Historic Parks and Sites Branch Parks Canada, Ottawa.

  • Kornbacher, K. D. (2002). Horseman of the Apocalypse: the relationship between severe environmental perturbations and the culture change on the north coast of Peru. In Torrence, R. and Grattan, J. (eds.), Natural Disaster and Cultural Change. Routledge, London, pp. 204−234.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lawrence, S. (2003a). Exporting culture: archaeology and the nineteenth-century British Empire. Historical Archaeology 37(1): 20−33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lawrence, S. (2003b). Introduction: archaeological perspectives on the British and their empire. In Lawrence, S. (ed.), Archaeologies of the British: Exploration of Identity in Great Britain and its Colonies, 1600–1945. Routledge, London, pp. 1−13.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Leach, J. (1994). Survival Psychology. Macmillan, Sydney.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lindbergh, J. (1999). Buttoning down archaeology. Australasian Historical Archaeology 17: 50−57.

    Google Scholar 

  • Luccketti, N. M. and Straube, B. A. (1998). Interim Report on the APVA Excavations at Jamestown Virginia. Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, Jamestown.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCurdy, S. A. (1994). Epidemiology of disaster: the Donner Party (1846–1847). Western Journal of Medicine 160(4): 338−342.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGowan, G. and Prangnell, J. (2011). Nineteenth-century buttons from the North Brisbane Burial Ground. Australasian Historical Archaeology 29: 13−22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Magistrates of Fremantle. (1830). Respecting the state of mind of Dr Langley, wishing for His Excellency’s opinion as to what would be the best to do with him, 13 August. Volume 8, Letter 82, Consignment 36, Series No. AU WA S2932, State Records Office of Western Australia, Perth.

  • Marcel. S. E. (1994). Buttoning Down the Past: A Look at Buttons as Indicators of Chronology and Material Culture. Honors Thesis, University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

  • Merrifield, R. (1955). Witch bottles and magical jugs. Folklore 66: 195−207.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morrone, A., Scrivens, K., Smith, C., and Balestra, C. (2011). Paper prepared for the IARIW-OECD Conference on Economic Insecurity, Paris, France, 22–23 November 2011. http://www.iariw.or/aper/01/orronePaper.pdf:, accessed August 2013.

  • Noël Hume, I. and Noël Hume, A. (2001). The Archaeology of Martin’s Hundred: Part 2: Artifact Catalog. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Peacock, P. (2008). Discovering Old Buttons. Shire, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perth Gazette. (1833). Civil Court, May 11, Perth, Western Australia, p. 75–76. < https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/77>, accessed January 2021.

  • Perth Gazette. (1835). Civil Court, September 19, Perth, Western Australia, p. 567. < https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/640747?searchTerm=civil%20court>, accessed January 2021.

  • Plümper, T., Flores, A. Q., and Neumayer, E. (2017). The double-edged sword of learning from natural disasters: mortality in the Tohoku Tsunami. Global Environmental Change 44: 49–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Porter, J. and Ferrier, A. (2006). Miscellaneous artifacts from Casselden Place Melbourne. International Journal of Historical Archaeology 10(4): 366−384.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pratt, C. (1831). Enclosing an Agreement for the Conveyance of 7 Prisoners to Hobart Town for £100 on delivery to proper authorities at Hobart. Can also find a berth for Dr Langley at £40 for the passage, 5 Sept. Volume 15, Letter 58–60, Consignment 36, Series No. AU WA S2932, State Records Office of Western Australia, Perth.

  • Quarantelli, E. L. and Dynes, R. R. (1977). Response to social crisis and disaster. Annual Review of Sociology 3: 23−49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Registry Office (1830–31). Burials at Perth 06/01/1830 – 10/09/1834 and 12/11/1834 – 18/06/1842; Burials at Fremantle 03/04/1831 – 01/05/1834 and 27/07/1834 – 11/12/1841. Consignment 703–1, Series No. AU WA S4043, State Records Office of Western Australia, Perth.

  • Riggert, T. L. (1979). The Swan River natural environment. In Gentilli, J. (ed.), Western Landscapes. University of Western Australia Press, Nedlands, pp. 183−202.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rockman, M. (2003). Knowledge and learning in the archaeology of colonization. In Rockman, M. and Steele, J. (eds.), Colonization of Unfamiliar Landscapes: The Archaeology of Adaptation. Routledge, London, pp. 3−24.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Sadler, J. and Grattan, J. (1999). Volcanoes as agents of past environmental change. Global and Planetary Change 21: 181−196.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scott, D. (1829). Shipping Report Gilmore, W. H. Geary, December 16. Item 365, Consignment 103, Series No. AU WA S2932, State Records Office of Western Australia, Perth.

  • Scott, D. (1830a). Shipping Report Hooghly, P. J. Reeves, from London, and Egyptian, William Lilburne, from London, February 12. Volume 5, Letter 5, Consignment 36, Series No. AU WA S2932, State Records Office of Western Australia, Perth.

  • Scott, D. (1830b). Shipping Report Rockingham, E. Halliburton, from London, May 14. Volume 6, Letter 141, Consignment 36, Series No. AU WA S2932, State Records Office of Western Australia, Perth.

  • Shaw C. McM. (ca. 1938). Copy of Edward Carr Shaw's Early Adventures in papers of Edward Carr Shaw and Fenton material (1836–1863) NS832. State Library of Victoria, Victoria.

  • Sheets, P., Hoopes, J., Melson, W., McKee, B., Sever, T., Mueller, M., Cheanult, M., and Bradley, J. (1991). Prehistory and volcanism in the Arenal area, Costa Rica. Journal of Field Archaeology 18: 445−465.

    Google Scholar 

  • Southern, R. L. (1979). The Atmosphere. In O’Brien, B. J. (ed.), Science and Environment. University of Western Australia Press, Nedlands, pp. 183−226.

    Google Scholar 

  • Statham, P. (1981). Swan River Colony, 1829–1850. In Stannage, C. T. (ed.), A New History of Western Australia. University of Western Australia Press, Nedlands, pp. 181−210.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stockton, E. D. (1973). Shaw’s Creek Shelter: human displacement of artifacts and its significance. Mankind 9: 112−117.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stein, Z., Susser, M., Saenger, G., and Marolla, F. (1975). Famine and Human Development: The Dutch Hunger Winter of 1944–1945. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stevenson, M. G. (1991). Beyond the formation of Hearth-Associated Artifact assemblages. In Kroll, E. M. and Price, T. D. (eds.), The Interpretation of Archaeological Spatial Patterning. Plenum, New York, pp. 269−396.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Tarlow, S. (2007). The Archaeology of Improvement in Britain, 1750–1850. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, L. (1995). A History of South Africa. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT.

    Google Scholar 

  • Torrence, R. (2002). What makes a disaster? a long-term view of volcanic eruptions and human responses in Papua New Guinea. In Torrence, R. and Grattan, J. (eds.), Natural Disaster and Cultural Change. Routledge, Oxford, pp. 292−312.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Torrence, R., Pavlides, C., Jackson, P., and Webb, J. (2000). Volcanic disasters and cultural discontinuities in the Holocene of West New Britain, Papua New Guinea. In McGuire, B., Griffiths, D., and Stewart, I. (eds.), The Archaeology of Geological Catastrophes. Geological Society, London, pp. 225−244.

  • Torrence, R. and Grattan, J. (eds.) (2002a). Natural Disaster and Cultural Change. Routledge, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Torrence, R. and Grattan, J. (2002b). The archaeology of disasters: past and future trends. In Torrence, R. and Grattan, J. (eds), Natural Disaster and Cultural Change. Oxford, London, pp. 1−18.

  • Twiss, H. (1923a). Under Secretary Twiss to Mr. T. Peel, January 28, 1829. In Watson, F. (ed.), Historical Records of Australia, Series 6, Volume 6, Library Committee of the Commonwealth Parliament, Sydney, pp. 611−612.

  • Twiss, H. (1923b). Under Secretary Twiss to Mr. T. Peel, January 28, 1829. In Watson, F. (ed.), Historical Records of Australia, Series 6, Volume 6, Library Committee of the Commonwealth Parliament, Sydney, pp. 612−613.

  • Vuori, J. and Hanson, R. (2000). Conservation of a military tunic including the use of guide threads for positioning repairs. Journal of the American Institute of Conservation 39(2): 215−228.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Welsch, R. L. (1998). An American anthropologist in Melanesia. In Lewis, A. B. and Field, J. N. (eds.), South Pacific Expedition, 1909–1913. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu.

    Google Scholar 

  • White, D. (1977). The Birmingham button industry. Post Medieval Archaeology 11: 67−79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whyte, I. D. (2000). Migration and Society in Britain, 1550–1830. Palgrave MacMillan, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Willett Cunnington, C. and Cunnington, P. (1992). The History of Underclothes. Dover, Mineola, NY.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wittenoom, J. B. (1833). Death. Transmitting a Return of Burials for the Quarter ending 3 January 1833 - Anyon Entwistle, Ann Morrell, John Crisp, Henry Clulow, John Newell, Luke (surname unknown), Richard James. Volume 26, Letter 7–8, Consignment 36, Series No. AU WA S2932, State Records Office of Western Australia, Perth.

  • Wrigley, E. A. and Schofield, R. S. (1981). The Population History of England, 1541–1871: A Reconstruction. Edward Arnold, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zeilinga de Boer, J. (2002). Volcanoes in Human History: The Far-Reaching Effects of Major Eruptions. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.

    Book  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Damien Hassan, Peter Di Marco, and Gerard Foley of the State Records Office of Western Australia; Ezgi Perincek and Lyal Woods of the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation, and Attractions (Parks and Wildlife); and Julian Donaldson and Karl Haynes of the National Trust of Australia (Western Australia branch) for supporting the research. Alexandra Suvorova of Microscopy Australia at the Centre for Microscopy, Characterisation and Analysis at the University of Western Australia was invaluable for accessing thimbles PT000103 and PT000108, while Masters Thomas Murphy and Jack Straw played small but very important roles. Thank you to Melissa Carling for feedback on the final draft.

We dedicate this paper to students from the College of St Mary’s Notre Dame IN who assisted with the research at the Crisp dwelling and elsewhere at Peel town while studying abroad in Western Australia at the University of Notre Dame Australia. We thank Mary Ducaji, Katelyn Durning, Sharon Ehret, Sarah Frick, Katherine Hernandez, K. Jameson Loubsky, Shannon McCloskey, Dru O’Bryant, Stephanie Parshall, Lauren Richey, Jamie Rust, and Lillias Zusi.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Archaeology, School of Arts and Sciences, University of Notre Dame Australia, PO 1225, Fremantle, Western Australia, 6959, Australia

    Lauren G. Tomlinson & Shane Burke

Authors
  1. Lauren G. Tomlinson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Shane Burke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shane Burke.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Tomlinson, L.G., Burke, S. The Archaeology of Resilience: A Case Study from Peel Town, Western Australia, 1829–30. Int J Histor Archaeol 26, 379–400 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-021-00605-8

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-021-00605-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation