Sarah Mané

Current position

Archaeologist at Umwelt.

Where did you study?

BA Cultural Heritage Studies at Charles Sturt University, Graduate Diploma in Museum Studies at Sydney University and Master of Arts (Archaeology) at University of New England.

How did you become interested in archaeology?

I have always had an interest in other cultures and in the human past so I studied archaeology and anthropology straight out of school, and then went in to museum work. I have since done many other things and have just come back to archaeology, working as a consultant in NSW. Since it’s impossible to be a time traveller, archaeology is the next best thing!

What archaeological projects are you working on at the moment?

As a consultant, I mainly do Aboriginal heritage assessments for developments in my local area. This involves desktop research to determine what has happened in an area and then a site inspection to look for Aboriginal sites. It is a very interesting job and important to help protect Aboriginal heritage.

Tell us about one of your most interesting archaeological discoveries.

One of the most interesting excavations that I have been involved in was in Newcastle, digging in a deep sand body with thousands and thousands of Aboriginal artefacts. It’s something that people can’t normally see and don’t know is there, and it connects the Aboriginal people we work with to their ancestors.

Tell us about a funny / disastrous / amazing experience that you have had while doing archaeology.

One of my most amazing experiences was going on a field school to Scotland. We were digging in a medieval abbey graveyard and researching the layers of headstones. I also got to volunteer at an experimental archaeology Iron Age museum/heritage site and be involved with creatively interpreting the local heritage, and we were filmed by the BBC for a travel show!

What’s your favourite part of being an archaeologist?

I love working with Aboriginal communities and I also love researching the environmental and historical contexts of locations that we work in, and imagining what things would have been like in the past.