One of our final blog posts of 2016 took a look at the history of Christmas in New Zealand. In the same festive spirit, this week it seems appropriate to explore the tradition of Easter – from the time when … Continue reading →
Summary of oral history recording by Danielle Louise O'Halloran about her experiences of the Canterbury earthquakes. Summary written by Brigid Buckenham.
Summary of oral history interview with Anastasia about her experiences of the Canterbury earthquakes. Interviewed by Danielle Louise O'Halloran. Summary written by Brigid Buckenham.
Jessie Garland and Luke Tremlett References and acknowledgements Christchurch City Council. Garvin, J., 2001. A Building History of Northern New England. University Press of New England, New Hampshire. Insight Unlimited.
In response to the loss of our inner city of Christchurch, we were inspired to create this website, Lost Christchurch, as a freely accessible archive of photographs, social history and memories of …
An interesting contribution to the history of the early days of Christchurch, and especially of the district now known as Sydenham, was made by Mr Henry Ffitch, of Glandovey road, Fendalton, in a s…
A document outlining the history of the Townsend Telescope and Observatory at the Christchurch Arts Centre. The document was written by Karen Pollard, Associate Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Canterbury.
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 30 December 2011 entitled, "Working Women's Waypost".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 27 February 2012 entitled, "Determining the Day".
A story submitted by Anonymous to the QuakeStories website.
A story submitted by Leonie to the QuakeStories website.
Today on the blog we are discussing my favourite site of 2019. We already talked about part of the site’s history last fortnight on the blog- that it contained the store and offices for Walton, Warner and Co. and their … Continue reading →
It’s been a busy month for Underground Overground Archaeology as we’ve been actively involved in New Zealand Archaeology Week 2018 running displays, historical tours, and talks – all of them highly successful thanks to history and archaeology lovers across the … Continue reading →
The word archaeology comes from the Greek archaia (“ancient things”) and logos (“theory” or “science”). So, archaeologists study past societies through the material culture. In other words, we write the history analysing what people threw away or left behind. That’s … Continue reading →
Presenting a selection of children’s ceramic plates and cups excavated in Christchurch for your perusal, with commentary. Jessie Garland References Riley, Noel., 1991. Gifts for Good Children: The History of Children’s China, Part 1, 1790-1890. Richard Dennis, Somerset.
The act of showing off wealth and status through material is a concept that has been happening throughout human history. This does not necessarily mean that the person had the wealth and status they were portraying, instead some people just … Continue reading →
Today Aotearoa continues to take tentative steps back into level 2 of the Covid-19 response, so you might think it strange that I would be voluntarily stepping back into quarantine. But we’re the stepping back into the history – all … Continue reading →
Yet another year gone! It’s been a strange one, out there in the world, but here at Underground Overground it’s been a year of excavation, discoveries, stories and all things archaeological. In the proper spirit of history, let’s take a … Continue reading →
The act of showing off wealth and status through material is a concept that has been happening throughout human history. This does not necessarily mean that the person had the wealth and status they were portraying, instead some people just … Continue reading →
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 12 July 2013 entitled, "Excelsior Excitment".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's Blog for 16 December 2013 entitled, "Memory Mural".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's Blog for 22 February 2014 entitled, "Sacred Space".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's Blog for 19 February 2014 entitled, "Spires Sculpture".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 2 November 2012 entitled, "Forlorn Farmers".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 30 June 2012 entitled, "Bravo Ballantynes!".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 27 June 2013 entitled, "Father's Footsteps".
A few weeks ago, there was an interesting interview on Radio New Zealand with historian Jock Phillips, on the history of tobacco use in New Zealand. In the interview, Jock talked about the ways in which people consumed tobacco in … Continue reading →
From Staffordshire pottery to American made glass-ware, we’ve come across artefacts from all over the world on archaeological sites here in Christchurch. This prevalence of internationally made artefacts, and what it means for the city’s history, is something that’s come … Continue reading ...
Part the First Movember is upon us once again, and to celebrate Undershaved Overgrown Archaeology brings to you a brief history of facial hair in Aotearoa. Movember is all about men’s health, and we’ve previously covered health in the blog … Continue reading →
Hello loyal blog readers, welcome back to another year of posts on the history and archaeology of 19th century Christchurch. I thought we’d start the year off by looking back at one of our more interesting finds from the very … Continue reading →