The amount of information that can be gleaned from historical remains is quite astounding, says Southern Cemeteries Archaeological Project co-director Dr Hallie Buckley.

“All of our biological tissue holds our stories inside.”

Hallie and co-director Dr Peter Petchey have been excavating gold-rush era cemeteries in Milton, Lawrence, and Drybread, at the northern end of the Manuherikia Valley. 

The archaeological aspect of the project will be completed today (Saturday May 20), when the remains of 11 people will be reinterred at Drybread Cemetery, which is still an active cemetery.

One of the 11 was an infant, one a child, and of the remaining nine people, five were Chinese. 

The reburial will take place at 1pm today, with an Anglican service by the Rev Penny Sinnamon, and a Chinese service by Les and Maisie Wong.

The local Chinese had been very supportive of the cemeteries project and incredibly invaluable colleagues, Hallie said.

One of the questions she and Peter were trying to answer as part of the project was whether immigration to New Zealand brought the promised better life to the people whose remains they looked at.

The answer was probably not for the first generation or two.

“We know that times were pretty tough back then.

“We found very high levels of dental disease, lots of people died of infectious diseases, there were pretty significant traumatic injuries.”

There was quite a difference between the experiences of the European migrants and the Chinese, she said.

“The Chinese suffered a lot of stress as children, but when they came to New Zealand, their diets improved.”

Conversely, those who came from Europe experienced a depleted diet in New Zealand, indicating the strained supply lines of the time. 

Hallie and Peter will attend the reinterment today, as will members of the Drybread Cemetery Trust, Central Otago Heritage Trust and community members, whom Peter made a point of thanking.

“Hallie and I are very grateful to the local community for their help throughout,” he said.