Amalgamation of archaeological assemblages: experiences from the Commonwealth Block project, Melbourne

To study broader social changes such as colonisation and globalisation, a holistic approach that incorporates various data (historical documents, building remains, site formation and artefacts) and scales of analysis (household, suburb, city, national and global) is particularly important. Comparative studies between archaeological assemblages are a significant component of this endeavour. To enable such studies, consideration must first be given to the methodology required to amalgamate assemblages for analysis. A recent project designed to amalgamate the assemblages excavated from the Commonwealth Block, Melbourne, provides an opportunity to explore these processes. This paper discusses how consolidating site records, targeting significant deposits, locating artefacts, managing data and unravelling the history of an assemblage are important precursors to cataloguing and analysis when working with previously excavated assemblages.