Peter Petchey
Biographic Data
| ID | 125453 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Peter Petchey |
| GIVEN NAMES | Peter |
| FAMILY NAME | Petchey |
| SIGNATURE | PETCHEY P |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Otago |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8986-5806 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 33 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 59 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 33 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2012 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
“An Injurious and Utterly Unfit Environment”
Misfortunes of a Miner
Payable gold was discovered in New Zealand’s South Island in 1861, bringing tens of thousands of people to the Otago Province. Most were men with limited means and no local family. Archival records show that goldfields life was associated with significant risk of disabling injury from earth falls, equine interactions, and violence. Care was usually provided in goldfields shantytowns or rudimentary village hospitals. Until recently, archival recor…
Nostalgia for the old country—A histological exploration of early childhood physiological stress experiences in colonial Otago, New Zealand
Many mid‐19th‐century immigrants to New Zealand are presumed to have been in pursuit of a “better life” than was achievable in their origin countries. Here, we utilize histological analyses of internal indicators of enamel growth disruption (accentuated lines [ALs]) in 19 European and Chinese immigrants and five colony‐born children from three 19th‐century Otago sites. Observations of regular enamel microstructure were used to estimate a chronolo…
A Partial Prehistory of the Southwest Silk Road
Historical phenomena often have prehistoric precedents; with this paper we investigate the potential for archaeometallurgical analyses and networked data processing to elucidate the progenitors of the Southwest Silk Road in Mainland Southeast Asia and southern China. We present original microstructural, elemental and lead isotope data for 40 archaeological copper-base metal samples, mostly from the UNESCO-listed site of Halin, and lead isotope da…
Death on the Goldfields
This paper presents the preliminary results of archaeological excavations at the Drybread Cemetery in Central Otago, New Zealand. The excavations were the third phase of a bioarchaeological research programme into the lives of early colonial-era settlers in Otago, following investigations at St. Johns Cemetery in Milton and the Adrossan and Gabriel Street cemeteries in Lawrence. The Drybread excavation investigated 13 graves, 10 of which containe…
Preservation of brain material in the archaeological record
Seeking their fortunes on the Otago goldfields, New Zealand – Constructing isotopic biographies of colonial goldminers
The nineteenth century New Zealand goldfields were a place where people from across the world came together in search of their fortunes. Written accounts of life on the diggings do exist but are of varying veracity and we therefore have little knowledge of the life experiences of those who came seeking gold. Recent excavations in cemeteries associated with the Otago goldrushes, however, are allowing direct reconstruction of lives using biological…
Hair today, gone tomorrow
Toxic metal or element exposure has the potential to cause significant negative health effects in human populations. During the goldrushes of the colonial period, mercury amalgamation was one of the most common methods of extracting gold from alluvial deposits or crushed ore, and exposure to mercury was an occupational health hazard. In this study we examine mercury exposure in mining populations from New Zealand’s first major goldrush, which beg…
Bone Remodeling Changes in an Individual with Tuberculosis-Induced, Left-Sided Femoroacetabular Joint Destruction, from Nineteenth-Century Milton, New Zealand
Bone is dynamic, undergoing metabolic changes in response to behavioral and pathological stimuli. This information can be reconstructed in bioarchaeology using histological methods, providing another avenue to explore the experiences of past peoples. We report histological findings from midshaft femoral cortical bone of an identified individual from nineteenth-century New Zealand, who suffered from tuberculosis and had a historically documented p…
Death and Dark Deeds on the Goldfields
In 1983 the grave of an unknown man was excavated in the Cromwell Gorge, Otago, New Zealand, as part of the archaeological programme of the Clutha Valley Development Project. This project culminated in the construction of the Clyde Dam, a large hydro-electric dam across the Clutha River. At the time of the excavation it was noted that the grave had been disturbed, and the skeleton was sent to the Anatomy Department at the University of Otago for …
'Buried with his boots on'
The New Zealand goldrushes of the mid nineteenth century saw an influx of, mostly, men surging into the Otago region in search of riches. Times were tough and the men had to cope with harsh weather and dangerous work practices to survive. Many lost their lives and most of these men remain anonymous. This paper presents a detailed life-course case study of a middle-aged man who lived, and died, in this biosocial landscape. The integration of osteo…
Wang Duan
Life and Death in Early Rural Otago
This book describes the investigation of St John’s Cemetery near Milton in Otago, southern New Zealand, that was carried out in 2016 as part of a wider study of early settler graves in the region. The cemetery was used between 1860 and 1926 and contains the burials of some of the first European (predominantly British) settlers in the area. In collaboration with a local group of descendants, Petchey and Buckley carried out an excavation that locat…
Disability and Difference on the New Zealand Frontier
The mid-nineteenth century saw extensive diaspora from Europe to the antipodes. New Zealand in particular was marketed to the poor and middle classes of the United Kingdom (UK) as a “Better Britain”; a pastoral utopia of abundant resources and easy living. These campaigns actively targeted young, able-bodied persons with the aim of creating a thriving and productive colony. The rural community of Milton, Otago, in the South Island, was a farming …
A Land of Plenty? Colonial Diet in Rural New Zealand
An isotopic and genetic study of multi-cultural colonial New Zealand
Childhood in Colonial Otago, New Zealand
Experiences of childhood in colonial New Zealand are difficult to reconstruct from the historical record alone. Many of those who came to the colony were illiterate, and the Victorian tendency to avoid discussion of pregnancy and breastfeeding practices restricts our understanding of this important period. Bioarchaeological investigation, however, has the potential to illuminate the life stories of these first-generation Pākehā (European) settler…
Establishing a strontium isotope baseline in New Zealand for future archaeological migration studies
Late Neolithic to Early-Mid Bronze Age semi-precious stone bead production and consumption at Oakaie and Nyaung’gan in central-northern Myanmar
Captain of All These Men of Death”
The South Island of New Zealand saw several major waves of migration in the mid-nineteenth century, predominantly from Europe but also with an ethnically distinct Chinese presence. The rural community of Milton, Otago, was a settler community established primarily by immigrants from the United Kingdom in search of a better quality of life. However, these settlers faced unique challenges related to surviving in an isolated location with very littl…
Lead astray
A multi‐isotope, multi‐tissue study of colonial origins and diet in New Zealand
Objectives Colonial period New Zealand was lauded as a land of plenty, where colonists could improve their station in life and secure a future for their families. Our understanding of colonial experience, however, is often shaped by historical records which communicate a state‐sponsored version of history. This study aims to reconstruct the lives of settlers using isotopic evidence from the colonial skeletons themselves. Materials and methods We …
New Zealand's Technological Participation in the International Goldfields
New Zealand's gold rushes of the early 1860s followed similar rushes in California and Australia, and mining technology was imported from those fields from the outset. Over the subsequent decades international mining technology was developed and improved. The question that this article asks is: how did New Zealand fit into the international hard-rock goldfields? Was it merely a follower of overseas technology, or did it participate more actively …
Metallurgical traditions and metal exchange networks in late prehistoric central Myanmar, c. 1000 BC to c. AD 500
Life, Death and Care on the Otago Goldfields
In 2017 two unmarked graves were disturbed by tree removal in the Cromwell Cemetery in Central Otago, New Zealand. These were the burials of two men who probably died in the 1890s, and examination of their remains indicated that both were manual workers with evidence of strong musculature and also numerous injuries; evidence of the harsh working life led by many in the nineteenth century Otago goldfields. This paper considers these two individual…
A first absolute chronology for Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age Myanmar
Captain of All These Men of Death”
The South Island of New Zealand saw several major waves of migration in the mid-nineteenth century, predominantly from Europe but also with an ethnically distinct Chinese presence. The rural community of Milton, Otago, was a settler community established primarily by immigrants from the United Kingdom in search of a better quality of life. However, these settlers faced unique challenges related to surviving in an isolated location with very littl…
Lead astray
An isotopic and genetic study of multi-cultural colonial New Zealand
A Partial Prehistory of the Southwest Silk Road
Historical phenomena often have prehistoric precedents; with this paper we investigate the potential for archaeometallurgical analyses and networked data processing to elucidate the progenitors of the Southwest Silk Road in Mainland Southeast Asia and southern China. We present original microstructural, elemental and lead isotope data for 40 archaeological copper-base metal samples, mostly from the UNESCO-listed site of Halin, and lead isotope da…
A Land of Plenty? Colonial Diet in Rural New Zealand
Bottle Top Capsules in New Zealand Historic Archaeological Sites
Bottle top capsules were applied over the cork or stoppers of many 19th century bottles to guarantee that the contents were authentic. They were manufactured from tin-plated lead foil, and were often embossed with the name and trademark of the bottling company. The capsules were discarded on opening, so they are directly associated with the actual consumption of the bottle contents, and used capsules are regularly found in small numbers in archae…
Childhood in Colonial Otago, New Zealand
Experiences of childhood in colonial New Zealand are difficult to reconstruct from the historical record alone. Many of those who came to the colony were illiterate, and the Victorian tendency to avoid discussion of pregnancy and breastfeeding practices restricts our understanding of this important period. Bioarchaeological investigation, however, has the potential to illuminate the life stories of these first-generation Pākehā (European) settler…
A multi‐isotope, multi‐tissue study of colonial origins and diet in New Zealand
Objectives Colonial period New Zealand was lauded as a land of plenty, where colonists could improve their station in life and secure a future for their families. Our understanding of colonial experience, however, is often shaped by historical records which communicate a state‐sponsored version of history. This study aims to reconstruct the lives of settlers using isotopic evidence from the colonial skeletons themselves. Materials and methods We …
Establishing a strontium isotope baseline in New Zealand for future archaeological migration studies
Lapita diet and subsistence strategies on W atom I sland, P apua N ew G uinea
Stable isotope ratios (δ 13 C and δ 15 N) were analyzed from the bone collagen of individuals ( n = 8) from a Lapita burial ground (ca. 2800–2350 BP) on Watom Island, located off northeast New Britain in the Bismarck Archipelago. The aim of this study was to assess the diet and subsistence strategies of humans that lived during the later Lapita period in Near Oceania. To aid in the interpretation of the human diet we analyzed the stable isotope r…
Seeking their fortunes on the Otago goldfields, New Zealand – Constructing isotopic biographies of colonial goldminers
The nineteenth century New Zealand goldfields were a place where people from across the world came together in search of their fortunes. Written accounts of life on the diggings do exist but are of varying veracity and we therefore have little knowledge of the life experiences of those who came seeking gold. Recent excavations in cemeteries associated with the Otago goldrushes, however, are allowing direct reconstruction of lives using biological…
Late Neolithic to Early-Mid Bronze Age semi-precious stone bead production and consumption at Oakaie and Nyaung’gan in central-northern Myanmar
Second World War Japanese Defences on Watom Island, Papua New Guinea
Watom Island, in the East New Britain Province of Papua New Guinea, was occupied by Japanese forces during the Second World War; twenty-one Allied Prisoners of War (of whom eighteen survived) were held there from 1944 to 1945. Numerous tunnels and defensive emplacements were dug on the island, and many remain open today. During an archaeological research programme at Rakival Village into the prehistoric occupation of Watom, some of these wartime …
Bottle Top Capsules in New Zealand Historic Archaeological Sites
Bottle top capsules were applied over the cork or stoppers of many 19th century bottles to guarantee that the contents were authentic. They were manufactured from tin-plated lead foil, and were often embossed with the name and trademark of the bottling company. The capsules were discarded on opening, so they are directly associated with the actual consumption of the bottle contents, and used capsules are regularly found in small numbers in archae…
Evidence of the Working of Greenstone by Taranaki Maori Prisoners in the Dunedin Gaol
During 2001 archaeological investigations were carried out at the Dunedin Law Courts during a restoration and redevelopment project of the historic building complex. The Courts were built in 1900 on the site of the former Dunedin Gaol, where a number of Maori prisoners from Taranaki had been held in 1869-1873 and 1879-1881. In 1891 Judge F.R. Chapman published an account that related how some of these prisoners had worked greenstone in the gaol t…
Second World War Japanese Defences on Watom Island, Papua New Guinea
Watom Island, in the East New Britain Province of Papua New Guinea, was occupied by Japanese forces during the Second World War; twenty-one Allied Prisoners of War (of whom eighteen survived) were held there from 1944 to 1945. Numerous tunnels and defensive emplacements were dug on the island, and many remain open today. During an archaeological research programme at Rakival Village into the prehistoric occupation of Watom, some of these wartime …
A Spanish Man-o-War in New Zealand? The 1864 wreck of Grafton and its lessons for pre-Cook shipwreck claims
This paper considers the 1864 wreck of Grafton in the Auckland Islands, and its implications for wreck analysis and pre-Cook exploration claims. The captain of Grafton, Thomas Musgrave, stated that the schooner was built from the wreck of a Spanish man-o-war, and archaeological analysis of the wreck found that the timbers are a tropical South American species, and had possibly been reused. The implications of this are clear; it is possible that t…
Lapita diet and subsistence strategies on W atom I sland, P apua N ew G uinea
Stable isotope ratios (δ 13 C and δ 15 N) were analyzed from the bone collagen of individuals ( n = 8) from a Lapita burial ground (ca. 2800–2350 BP) on Watom Island, located off northeast New Britain in the Bismarck Archipelago. The aim of this study was to assess the diet and subsistence strategies of humans that lived during the later Lapita period in Near Oceania. To aid in the interpretation of the human diet we analyzed the stable isotope r…
Finding Meaning and Identity in New Zealand Buildings Archaeology
In 2015 a wooden two-storey 1880 villa in Dunedin, New Zealand, was examined and recorded prior to demolition. While unremarkable from the street, due to its very visible location on a steep hillside it was effectively built with two frontages, as the rear wall repeated the architectural features of the front wall. This ‘double-fronted villa’ design was a notable adaptation to ensure public respectability. However, further investigation of the bu…
First Footsteps in a New World City
Metallurgical traditions and metal exchange networks in late prehistoric central Myanmar, c. 1000 BC to c. AD 500
Life, Death and Care on the Otago Goldfields
In 2017 two unmarked graves were disturbed by tree removal in the Cromwell Cemetery in Central Otago, New Zealand. These were the burials of two men who probably died in the 1890s, and examination of their remains indicated that both were manual workers with evidence of strong musculature and also numerous injuries; evidence of the harsh working life led by many in the nineteenth century Otago goldfields. This paper considers these two individual…
A first absolute chronology for Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age Myanmar
New Zealand's Technological Participation in the International Goldfields
New Zealand's gold rushes of the early 1860s followed similar rushes in California and Australia, and mining technology was imported from those fields from the outset. Over the subsequent decades international mining technology was developed and improved. The question that this article asks is: how did New Zealand fit into the international hard-rock goldfields? Was it merely a follower of overseas technology, or did it participate more actively …
Establishing a strontium isotope baseline in New Zealand for future archaeological migration studies
Late Neolithic to Early-Mid Bronze Age semi-precious stone bead production and consumption at Oakaie and Nyaung’gan in central-northern Myanmar
Captain of All These Men of Death”
The South Island of New Zealand saw several major waves of migration in the mid-nineteenth century, predominantly from Europe but also with an ethnically distinct Chinese presence. The rural community of Milton, Otago, was a settler community established primarily by immigrants from the United Kingdom in search of a better quality of life. However, these settlers faced unique challenges related to surviving in an isolated location with very littl…
Lead astray
A multi‐isotope, multi‐tissue study of colonial origins and diet in New Zealand
Objectives Colonial period New Zealand was lauded as a land of plenty, where colonists could improve their station in life and secure a future for their families. Our understanding of colonial experience, however, is often shaped by historical records which communicate a state‐sponsored version of history. This study aims to reconstruct the lives of settlers using isotopic evidence from the colonial skeletons themselves. Materials and methods We …
Disability and Difference on the New Zealand Frontier
The mid-nineteenth century saw extensive diaspora from Europe to the antipodes. New Zealand in particular was marketed to the poor and middle classes of the United Kingdom (UK) as a “Better Britain”; a pastoral utopia of abundant resources and easy living. These campaigns actively targeted young, able-bodied persons with the aim of creating a thriving and productive colony. The rural community of Milton, Otago, in the South Island, was a farming …
A Land of Plenty? Colonial Diet in Rural New Zealand
An isotopic and genetic study of multi-cultural colonial New Zealand
Childhood in Colonial Otago, New Zealand
Experiences of childhood in colonial New Zealand are difficult to reconstruct from the historical record alone. Many of those who came to the colony were illiterate, and the Victorian tendency to avoid discussion of pregnancy and breastfeeding practices restricts our understanding of this important period. Bioarchaeological investigation, however, has the potential to illuminate the life stories of these first-generation Pākehā (European) settler…
Bone Remodeling Changes in an Individual with Tuberculosis-Induced, Left-Sided Femoroacetabular Joint Destruction, from Nineteenth-Century Milton, New Zealand
Bone is dynamic, undergoing metabolic changes in response to behavioral and pathological stimuli. This information can be reconstructed in bioarchaeology using histological methods, providing another avenue to explore the experiences of past peoples. We report histological findings from midshaft femoral cortical bone of an identified individual from nineteenth-century New Zealand, who suffered from tuberculosis and had a historically documented p…
Death and Dark Deeds on the Goldfields
In 1983 the grave of an unknown man was excavated in the Cromwell Gorge, Otago, New Zealand, as part of the archaeological programme of the Clutha Valley Development Project. This project culminated in the construction of the Clyde Dam, a large hydro-electric dam across the Clutha River. At the time of the excavation it was noted that the grave had been disturbed, and the skeleton was sent to the Anatomy Department at the University of Otago for …
'Buried with his boots on'
The New Zealand goldrushes of the mid nineteenth century saw an influx of, mostly, men surging into the Otago region in search of riches. Times were tough and the men had to cope with harsh weather and dangerous work practices to survive. Many lost their lives and most of these men remain anonymous. This paper presents a detailed life-course case study of a middle-aged man who lived, and died, in this biosocial landscape. The integration of osteo…
Wang Duan
Life and Death in Early Rural Otago
This book describes the investigation of St John’s Cemetery near Milton in Otago, southern New Zealand, that was carried out in 2016 as part of a wider study of early settler graves in the region. The cemetery was used between 1860 and 1926 and contains the burials of some of the first European (predominantly British) settlers in the area. In collaboration with a local group of descendants, Petchey and Buckley carried out an excavation that locat…
Archaeology (25 works) · History (25 works) · Geography (20 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (15 works) · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies (15 works) · History (13 works) · Historical and Cultural Archaeology Studies (12 works) · Ancient history (10 works) · Ethnology (9 works) · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies (9 works)