ARTEFACT DEPOSIT – ROAD RESERVE, POINT NEPEAN ROAD, SORRENTO
ROAD RESERVE - 3437 POINT NEPEAN ROAD, SORRENTO
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Statement of Significance
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ARTEFACT DEPOSIT – ROAD RESERVE, POINT NEPEAN ROAD, SORRENTO - History
A brief history of the place is provided below. Historic images (maps and figures) referenced below are provided in the supporting document submitted with this site card. The site is located within a road reserve established by the 1877, the chronological history provided below includes an assessment of structures evident in historic images located on land in the vicinity of the site. A map dating to 1857 showing the location of a series of structures (fencing, kilns and huts) in the region depicts the identified site and its immediate surrounds as vacant land (Map 4). By 1877, the present-day road reserve (Point Nepean Road) – encompassing the identified site – had been established. Private land to the south o f the site was first purchased in 1863 by W. Cockburn (Argus, 01 Jul. 1863, p. 7). By c.1873, land encompassing the identified site formed part of a surveyed roadway within the ‘Belle Vista Estate’. This estate was reportedly established by Charles Duffy and W. Cockburn in 1873 (Graeme Butler & Associates, 2013, p. 91). An undated map likely dating to the establishment of the estate in 1873 shows the location of existing structures within the estate. This map depicts the private property located to the immediately south of the site as vacant land. Of particular note in this map is the presence of a structure marked as the ‘Sorrento Store’ on land owned by ‘Mr Jenner’, located approximately 100m west of the identified site (Map 6). The Sorrento Store is likely depicted in a historic photograph dating to c.1878; this photo was reportedly taken from the tower of the Continental Hotel, facing north (i.e., towards the identified site) (Figure 2). A number of roads and tracks are evident in this image, including an unformed road that approximates the alignment of present-day Point Nepean Road. The approximate location of the identified site is evident in this image as vacant land with low scrub cover (south) and a track/road (north). A number of fenced properties, encompassing what are likely domestic/residential structures, are visible south east of the site. It should be noted that the orientation and resolution of this photograph limits the degree to which the identified site can be precisely located. A map dating to 1890 shows the location of several presumably domestic houses on land located southeast of the site; a structure that is presumably the ‘Sorrento Store’ is also marked Map 7). Present-day 3437 Point Nepean Road (located to the immediate south of the site) is depicted as vacant land on these maps. A map dating to 1931 (based on a 1928 military survey) marks Point Nepean Road as a formed road, and indicates that an unformed road approximating the alignment of present-day Greenwood Avenue had also been constructed. Present-day 3437 Point Nepean Road is depicted as vacant land on this maps. It is noted that the current heritage citation for the property at 3437 Point Nepean Road suggests that the property’s extant residence (Sundorne) was constructed in c.1923. If this secondary source is correct, the residence’s absence on the 1928/1931 military map would have to be an error; however, it is also possible that the house was incomplete or had not commenced at the time of the military survey (1928). In an aerial image dating to 1939, the identified site is depicted as being located within the road reserve, south of Point Nepean Road. Sundorne (house and gardens) is evident in this image (Map 9). As identified during the site inspection, the service trench for the original Mornington Peninsula (Portsea to Sorrento) water main truncates the identified archaeological deposit (Context 6; see Figure 3). This water main was constructed between 1939 and 1941 (The Age, 25, Oct. 1940, p.9; Dandenong Journal, 30 Apr. 1931, p. 7). As such, deposition of the identified archaeological deposit/artefacts (i.e., the archaeologically significant deposit, Context 6) predates 1941.ARTEFACT DEPOSIT – ROAD RESERVE, POINT NEPEAN ROAD, SORRENTO - Interpretation of Site
With consideration given to the identified land use/occupation of the site (see Section 4, supporting document), the interpretation of the historic archaeological deposit (Section 5, supporting document), and the nature of the artefact assemblage identified during the site inspection (see Section 6, supporting document): • Potentially significant historic archaeological deposits are evidenced/preserved within and in the immediate vicinity of the excavated service trench (ST1). • It is likely that any significant archaeological deposits and/or features located at the site will be preserved beneath non-significant (post c.1941) deposits/features at depths =0.5m below the current ground surface. • Given the functional types and relatively homogenous date range of recovered artefacts it is likely that the identified artefact deposit (Context 6) represents a discrete, deliberately discarded deposit of domestic or possibly commercial rubbish/refuse. As such, it is unlikely that the deposit extends for a significant distance beyond the current limits of ST1. • There is moderate potential for a purpose made rubbish/refuse pit to be evidence in the immediate city of ST1; however, it is also possible that the artefacts were simply discarded on the prior ground surface/within an existing landform depression (i.e., rather than within an excavated pit). • Given the site’s location within a road reserve (established in the 1870s; i.e., prior to the deposition of Context 6), and the absence of structures at the site (as evidenced in historic maps/images dating from the nineteenth to early-twentieth century), there is negligible to low potential for structures of archaeological significance to be preserved in the immediate vicinity of the identified site. • There is high potential for artefact-bearing deposit/s associated with the late-nineteenth to early-twentieth century occupation of Sorrento to be located in the immediate vicinity of ST1 (i.e., an extension of Context 6). While it is unlikely that any additional artefacts that may be
Heritage Inventory Description
ARTEFACT DEPOSIT – ROAD RESERVE, POINT NEPEAN ROAD, SORRENTO - Heritage Inventory Description
The ‘archaeological site’ subject to this site card is defined as a portion of land within the current road reserve fronting Lot 1/PS07128, 3437 Point Nepean Road, Sorrento (LGA: Mornington Peninsula). The site extent encompasses the limits of an excavated utilities service trench (ST1) where a historic artefact deposit was identified, and an additional 2m buffer area of land around this trench (as illustrated in Map 3 supporting document). The service trench (ST1) itself intersects/cuts though part of an existing property access driveway (gravelled area of land) located within the road reserve. As illustrated in Map 3 and Figure 1 (supporting document), land in the immediate vicinity of the site includes the following landscape elements/features: • Greenwood Avenue – asphalted local road (north) • Open grassed land and mature non-native trees (south and west) • Property access driveway – gravelled (east) During a site inspection (26/09/2023) a number of well-stratified deposits were identified within the excavated service trench (ST1). Relevant to the current site card, a deposit of silty sand with a high concentration of historic (non-Aboriginal) artefacts was identified at the southern end of the ST1 at a depth of ~60cm below the current ground surface. The identified artefact-bearing deposit was designated as Context 6. In section view it was evident that Content 6 extended beyond the limits of the excavated service trench (ST1) to the south, east and west. Excavation of the northern end of the service trench (STI) had ceased at a shallower depth and as a result, it was not possible to determine whether the significant archaeological deposit (Context 6) extends to the north. No historic structures/features were evident during the site inspection of ST1 Further details including scale plans and section drawings are provided in the supporting document (Dolling and Crotty, 2023) submitted with this site card.
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