Falling through the Cracks: Method and Practice at the CSR Site, Pyrmont

This paper discusses the excavation methodology and analysis of underfloor deposits at the CSR Site, a CRM archaeological project undertaken by Casey & Lowe in late 1996. This site is located in Pyrmont, on the foreshores of Sydney Cove, not far from the earlier areas of settlement in the Rocks and Millers Point. The sets of archaeological evidence investigated are from the underfloor spaces of seven houses at this site. This paper examines aspects of the analysis of these deposits, with a focus on the detailed distribution of artefacts, the results of the analysis and our interpretation of their meaning and how this added to our understanding of working-class lives in Sydney. Some links in the archaeological process between research design, excavation, post-excavation analysis and interpretation are discussed.