You can contact LEARNZ, part of CORE Education, at:
Postal Address:
PO Box 13 678,
Christchurch 8141,
New Zealand
Meet Louise Furey
Job description:
I look after Māori artefacts such as fishhooks and adzes and all the faunal material recovered from excavations. I also look after some large collections of stone adzes from the Pacific and the rest of the world including Egypt, Mesopotamia and the American South West.
Work background:
I have carried out many excavations in Auckland, Coromandel Peninsula and Bay of Plenty and have also had some research jobs at the University and the Museum and had my own business providing archaeological advice.
Favourite part of job:
Archaeology has allowed me to go to some pretty special places in New Zealand and the companionship of my colleagues during fieldwork is really stimulating. I also like getting my hands dirty digging in the ground. In the museum, I can look at a lot of artefacts up close and work out how they were made.
I also like working with the archaeology team at Auckland Museum as we all have the same commitment to protecting the artefacts for the future.
Least favourite part of job:
Fieldwork in the middle of winter when it is cold and raining!
What I am working on now:
I have to balance my museum job looking after objects and enhancing the records for each object in the museum database with research interests which take me out of the museum for weeks at a time.
A quick story about a job well done:
There is always a sense of satisfaction about scraping away in the soil and after 3 weeks realising how much soil has been removed, and how much we have learned in the process.
A (humorous) story about a job that went badly and what you learned:
Having to put all the dirt back again at the end of the excavation when we are tired! I always hate that part but love it when we have a digger to put it all back.
Qualifications:
Master of Arts in Archaeology from the University of Auckland.
Doctor of Science degree also from Auckland.
Interests outside work:
Gardening, growing avocados on a lifestyle block, learning about growing Māori kūmara varieties.
Louise Furey is a curator of Archaeology at Auckland Museum. Image: Auckland Museum.