The archaeology of nineteenth‐century British imperialism: An Australian case study

Abstract

Abstract By combining documentary and archaeological evidence, the immediate problems of the British colonization of Australia can be better understood than by merely pursuing the written word. Port Essington, the site of a small and short‐lived military outpost, is a valuable example because it is an extreme one. Its history, and particularly its architectural history, is one of ingenuity and improvisation and underlines problems which are basic to the process of colonization at any time: isolation and distance from the mother country; the strange and hostile environment; and the technological and human competence of the colonizers. On these factors, among others, depends the sort of cultural adaptation that ensues.