Conference Presentations by Alex Scahill
In response to the threat of invasion from the Russian Empire during the 1880s, a series of coast... more In response to the threat of invasion from the Russian Empire during the 1880s, a series of coastal defences were constructed at New Zealand's four major ports: Auckland; Wellington; Lyttelton, and Dunedin. These defences were manned, operated and modified through the Russian Scare and the First World War, until being decommissioned following the end of World War II. This paper examines the nature and extent of Dunedin's coastal fortifications through its archaeological remains. The remains are viewed as non-constructed memorials, instantly recognisable for their role in our history but not built in remembrance. They allow us to directly examine the mindset of a young nation, reacting for the first time to a serious external threat to their way of life. Wartime decisions and actions are materialised within the walls, and these structures elicit remembrance in ways that other forms of memorial cannot.
Pottery has been the artefact of choice for establishing migrations in the West Pacific as demons... more Pottery has been the artefact of choice for establishing migrations in the West Pacific as demonstrated by the discovery in the 1960s that dentate-stamped pottery of the Lapita Cultural Complex had a distribution that spanned thousands of kilometres. The decorative attributes of pots are traditionally assessed to infer a cultural connection and establish the migration pattern. In this paper, ceramic technology results are presented that indicate significant variation among early potting groups who colonised different parts of Remote Oceania around 3000 years ago. Expanding the study of ceramics beyond decoration and vessel forms provides new insight to ancient potting traditions and challenges ideas about early migration that are based predominantly on pot decoration.
Papers by Alex Scahill
Pottery has long been the artefact of choice for establishing migrations in the West Pacific, as ... more Pottery has long been the artefact of choice for establishing migrations in the West Pacific, as demonstrated by the discovery in the 1940s that dentate-stamped pottery of the Lapita Cultural Complex had a distribution that spanned thousands of kilometres (Kirch 1997: 6-70. Traditionally the decorative attributes of pots were assessed to infer cultural connections and establish migration patterns (ibid: 12). More recently archaeologists have turned to methods of physicochemical analysis to provide insight into these migrations with much greater resolution. Previous investigations of Early Lapita settlement all recognise a high degree of mobility (Anson 1983: 1986; Hennessey 2007; Hunt 1989; Summerhayes 2000a; Thomson and White 2000). There are however, two quite different interpretations of these mobility patterns. The first of these interpretations, “Specialised Regional Production” (Hogg 2012: 28), suggests that pottery production is being conducted by sedentary specialist potters...
This dissertation is an archaeological analysis of Dunedin's coastal military fortifications in t... more This dissertation is an archaeological analysis of Dunedin's coastal military fortifications in the period from the 1880s, when the country was threatened with Russian invasion, through until the end of the Second World War. This investigation examines the nature and extent of these fortifications, and was conducted through both field survey and mapping, and historical research. With very little previous work conducted on these types of site, this research provides valuable insight into fortification construction methods and temporal change throughout this period. This investigation also examines the mindset of a young nations, and their reaction when facing for the first time a serious external threat to their way of life.
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Conference Presentations by Alex Scahill
Papers by Alex Scahill