Criminal Boys in a Remote Landscape: The Archaeology of Point Puer (1834-1849), an Experimental Reform Institution in Colonial Australia

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Environmental and Social Issues within Historical Archaeology (General Sessions)" , at the 2021 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Criminal children formed a notable proportion of the convict population transported to colonial Australia. During a global shift in the ideology of the treatment of criminal youth, an experimental institution for the training and reform of colonial boy prisoners was established at Point Puer in Tasmania. The institution operated between 1834 and 1849 alongside the adult penal settlement of Port Arthur. Point Puer is a well-preserved archaeological landscape, and when contextualised with documentary sources, provides evidence of the economics, industries and behaviour management adopted for juvenile reform in this period. This paper examines how early nineteenth century ideologies of prison reforms from the United States and elsewhere were manifested at Point Puer through integration into the settlement design, and ultimately modified for this remote location. This paper aims to initiate a discussion regarding international expressions of juvenile reform in the nineteenth century, to facilitate comparative studies in a global context.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Environmental and Social Issues within Historical Archaeology (General Sessions)   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2021

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology