Life and Death on the New Zealand Goldfields Frontier cover

Published:29/05/2026Language:EnglishPages:222, Illustrated throughout in black & white and colour.BAR Number: S3271Series: BAR International Series

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Life and Death on the New Zealand Goldfields Frontier

Name: Life and Death on the New Zealand Goldfields Frontier
SKU: Life and Death on the New Zealand Goldfields Frontier
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The archaeology and bioarchaeology of the Ardrossan Street Cemetery and Gabriel Street Chinese Cemetery, Lawrence, Otago

Written by Peter Petchey and Hallie Buckley with contributions byJane Batcheller, Rod Wallace, Les Wong and Maisie Wong

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Description

In 2018, an archaeological and bioarchaeological investigation of two goldfields-era cemeteries in Lawrence in Otago, New Zealand, provided insights into the miners who worked in the Tuapeka Goldfield from 1861 onwards, including the Chinese miners who arrived from 1866. The Ardrossan Street Cemetery (1861 to ca. 1865) had 24 graves containing 25 individuals. The Gabriel Street Cemetery (ca. 1865 to the present day) replaced the older cemetery, and 21 graves in the Chinese section were investigated, but only nine contained skeletal remains. The others had been historically exhumed for repatriation to China. Analysis of these individuals was carried out using a ‘biocultural’ approach that combines biological and cultural information. It focuses on both human remains and archaeological evidence, considered within a wider archaeological landscape. This is the first study of its type in the New Zealand goldfields and complements earlier work at Milton carried out in 2016.

About the Author

Peter Petchey is an archaeologist based in southern New Zealand who specialises in historical and industrial archaeology, focusing particularly on the nineteenth-century New Zealand goldfields.

Hallie Buckley is a bioarchaeologist specialising in health and disease in the Asia Pacific region. She investigates human adaptation to the environment during periods of initial colonisation and biocultural transitions.

Reviews

‘I anticipate [this book] will be used extensively for comparative purposes and widely cited in future by anyone working on overseas Chinese sites.’ Dr Neville Ritchie, Independent Researcher, New Zealand