Lake Innes: Identifying socioeconomic status in the archaeological record

Abstract

Lake Innes Estate, near Port Macquarie, New South Wales, flourished in the 1830s, declined during the 1840s, and faded away during the late-19th century. In its heyday, its viability was based on the labor of assigned servants who were not free, that is to say transported convicts, but paid free workers were also employed. There was a complex social hierarchy, at the top of which were the residents of Lake Innes House: family members of Major Innes, a retired British army officer. The documentary record for Lake Innes is extensive, but so is the archaeological record. The remains and sites of domestic buildings display differences that reflect the social order of the estate, in which even the servants were divided into several classes. Artifact assemblages provide a similar picture. Small items subject to accidental loss rather than discard are particularly informative, such as coins, buttons, dressmaking pins, and fragments of smoking pipes.