Monash students dig Victoria’s history
Lachlan shows an image of a ground magnetic response near the heritage site and Jesse operates an Earth resistivity meter to image suspected grave sites from Lt Collins 1803 settlement at Sorrento.
Monash students Jesse Savage and Lachlan Grose have teamed up with archaeologists in the search for lost sites important to the history of the state of Victoria.
Working alongside archaeologists at Alpha Archaelogy as part of an industry-based placement program offered at Monash, the Bachelor of Science students used geophysical sensing technology to investigate the Earth’s subsurface and locate objects buried in the ground at two of Victoria’s oldest sites.
Lachlan surveyed the heritage site of the former Viewbank Homestead in Melbourne’s north-east. He identified a new target for an archaeological dig which uncovered a number of pottery fragments historically associated with the site.
“The project was an excellent way to apply the skills which I was shown in the lab close to a real world application. It highlighted that geophysics is not looking for a specific detail but looking for a significant difference,” Lachlan said.
Jesse generated profiles of suspected gravesites in Victoria's earliest European settlement - the 1803 Lt Collins Settlement of Sorrento. Excavations on the site are planned and if the graves are discovered, they would be one of the most important archaeological finds in recent years in Victoria.
“The project has been challenging, but it gave us a good insight into working as a geophysicist and learning the practical side of field work,” Jesse said.
The students were part of the Science Talented Students Program available at Monash which provides opportunities for students to undertake an industry project offering a challenge beyond the standard curriculum.