Post by nzbc on Nov 2, 2017 19:06:36 GMT 12
Chinese gold miners burial study project proposed at Lawrence cemetery
MARY-JO TOHILL
Last updated 11:41, October 29 2017
University of Otago researchers are meeting with the Lawrence community on Tuesday to get feedback about a proposed study of Chinese gold miners buried at the town's cemetery.
The team, which recently exhumed the remains of early settlers at the St John's Burial Ground near Milton, is hoping to study the health and lives of the Otago goldfields Chinese community, through their bones.
In a statement from the University of Otago, the researchers say they want to talk to the community about the people buried at the edge of the Lawrence cemetery, who were likely Chinese miners, or who may have been their life partners, or possibly impoverished European settlers who lived in the community.
Researchers are proposing to use DNA techniques, isotopic analysis and study of the conditions of bones to learn more about these 19th century settlers, many of whom were officially invited by the New Zealand Government to work in the goldfields.
READ MORE:
* Milton burial ground yields long-kept secrets
* Rich coffin furniture uncovered from Milton burial dig in South Otago
Otago bioarchaeologist Professor Hallie Buckley, is leading the proposed project, with Southern Archaeology's Dr Peter Petchey.
In a statement Buckley says she is hopeful the community will share her excitement "about the great opportunity to discover a rich vein of information about the lives of these pioneering settlers".
"We have already been in initial discussions with local Lawrence community members, including those who represent this region's rich Chinese heritage, and have found there is great deal of interest in what we are proposing to study. We look forward to further exploring our ideas on Tuesday evening."
She says if the project gains support, it will provide "a fascinating counterpoint" to the biological anthropology research she and colleagues are currently undertaking into the lives of European settlers buried in the cemetery near Milton, and the people of Wairau Bar in Marlborough, who were likely our country's first colonists.
"New Zealand is only a recently settled country in historical terms, so between this latest proposed work at Lawrence and the similar investigations we are undertaking at Milton and with the settlers at Wairau Bar, there are so many fascinating lessons we can learn."
The team will share details of the planned work with members of the Lawrence community.
Their initial feedback is invited at a meeting on Tuesday at 6.30pm at the St John's Centre at 10 Ross Place, Lawrence
www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/98288606/chinese-gold-miners-burial-study-project-proposed-at-lawrence-cemetery
MARY-JO TOHILL
Last updated 11:41, October 29 2017
University of Otago researchers are meeting with the Lawrence community on Tuesday to get feedback about a proposed study of Chinese gold miners buried at the town's cemetery.
The team, which recently exhumed the remains of early settlers at the St John's Burial Ground near Milton, is hoping to study the health and lives of the Otago goldfields Chinese community, through their bones.
In a statement from the University of Otago, the researchers say they want to talk to the community about the people buried at the edge of the Lawrence cemetery, who were likely Chinese miners, or who may have been their life partners, or possibly impoverished European settlers who lived in the community.
Researchers are proposing to use DNA techniques, isotopic analysis and study of the conditions of bones to learn more about these 19th century settlers, many of whom were officially invited by the New Zealand Government to work in the goldfields.
READ MORE:
* Milton burial ground yields long-kept secrets
* Rich coffin furniture uncovered from Milton burial dig in South Otago
Otago bioarchaeologist Professor Hallie Buckley, is leading the proposed project, with Southern Archaeology's Dr Peter Petchey.
In a statement Buckley says she is hopeful the community will share her excitement "about the great opportunity to discover a rich vein of information about the lives of these pioneering settlers".
"We have already been in initial discussions with local Lawrence community members, including those who represent this region's rich Chinese heritage, and have found there is great deal of interest in what we are proposing to study. We look forward to further exploring our ideas on Tuesday evening."
She says if the project gains support, it will provide "a fascinating counterpoint" to the biological anthropology research she and colleagues are currently undertaking into the lives of European settlers buried in the cemetery near Milton, and the people of Wairau Bar in Marlborough, who were likely our country's first colonists.
"New Zealand is only a recently settled country in historical terms, so between this latest proposed work at Lawrence and the similar investigations we are undertaking at Milton and with the settlers at Wairau Bar, there are so many fascinating lessons we can learn."
The team will share details of the planned work with members of the Lawrence community.
Their initial feedback is invited at a meeting on Tuesday at 6.30pm at the St John's Centre at 10 Ross Place, Lawrence
www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/98288606/chinese-gold-miners-burial-study-project-proposed-at-lawrence-cemetery