Solve it using sources

About the program

This history skills based virtual excursion program is focused on analysis of source material to understand historical events and peoples.

It is based at two the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Hyde Park Barracks and Susannah Place in Sydney’s Rocks area, and explores the archaeology of both sites as well as other relevant primary sources. At Hyde Park Barracks we look at the public archaeological dig and learn how thousands of artefacts were found underground and under the floorboards at the Barracks, many having been hidden by rats building their nests. Combining this archaeology with source documents, museum educators discuss with students how they could answer questions what they can discover about the lives of the convicts who lived at the Barracks. Finally we use the archaeology of an existing building at Susannah Place and see how the building itself, combined with oral histories and written sources, helps us answer questions about the lives of the people who lived there.