Reconstructing Landscape: Archaeological Investigations of the Royal Exhibition Buildings Western Forecourt, Melbourne.

The western forecourt of the Royal Exhibition Buildings, Carlton, was one of the main components of its “palace garden setting.” After several phases of landscape change, in the 1950s the area was covered with asphalt and used as a car park. In 2004, the “Royal Exhibition Buildings and Carlton Gardens” was inscribed on the World Heritage List and subsequent management and conservation plans provided the stimulus for the conservation and re-interpretation of the western forecourt. The custodians of the site, Museum Victoria, commissioned an archaeological excavation with the aim of uncovering information that would inform the reconstruction of the former 1880s “German Garden.” Godden Mackay Logan (now GML Heritage), in collaboration with La Trobe University, undertook these investigations which became part of a public engagement program, employed new approaches to artifact management and provided significant information regarding changes to the landscape over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]