An unprecedented archaeological dig is underway beneath Melbourne's CBD.
In order to make way for the Metro Tunnel — a rail network that will include five new stations — a team of more than 100 archaeologists, students and staff are overseeing excavations at two locations.
So far we have found more than 1000 human teeth and a coin worth $3000 through our archaeological investigations in the CBD pic.twitter.com/54e2Zc3fvp— Metro Tunnel (@metrotunnelvic) 23 Αυγούστου 2018
Here's a look at some of the 500,000 artefacts they've found in the digs so far:
Piles of teeth washed down the sink
Yes. It's disgusting. More than 1,000 human teeth were found at one of the locations, next to the Young and Jackson pub on the corner of Flinders and Swanston streets.
Excavation director Meg Goulding said there used to be a dentist on the site.
"This guy clearly disposed of a lot of his teeth down the pipe, down the sink," Meg Goulding said.
"They gross me out. I mean I've excavated a lot of skeletal remains in my time, but there's something about disembodied teeth that is very unattractive."
The teeth, some of which could date back to 1898, are especially disgusting by modern standards.
"A lot of them are unattractive because they've got very big holes in them," Ms Goulding said.
"So they instantly say to you pain and agony, both in terms of people suffering for the length of time that they must have had some of these teeth in their mouths, but also just the extraction process."
A peek into industries past
A number of objects highlight the different businesses which have stood on the sites during the 180 years since the European settlement of Melbourne.
Hundreds of lead print types were discovered, left behind by a stationer and printer who worked in the area in the late 1800s.
There are also labels from James Dickson & Co ginger ale bottles, a company which started in a Richmond shed during the 1850s gold rush before moving to the CBD in 1869.
Heat-resistant ceramic crucibles may have been used in a printing workshop or sold by stationery shops.
The seedy underbelly of early Melbourne
Gambling dice and gaming discs have also been unearthed, mostly made from cattle bone or ivory.
At least 20 dice were recovered from 13 Swanston Street, a site formerly occupied by hotels, along with corks, corkscrews, glass tumblers, wine glasses, swizzle sticks and alcohol bottles.
Archaeologists also uncovered 34 glass discs which suggest that opium lamps were manufactured in the area.
Items left behind by wealthy patrons who would have visited the hotels include an opulent jet earring which probably fell through the floorboards, lost for more than a century.
Children's toys from a simpler time
Plenty of children's toys have also been uncovered, including a toy soldier that dates back to the 1850s.
It was likely made in Germany and depicts a British army drummer around the time of the Battle of Waterloo.
There's also a yellow bird-shaped whistle that dates back to at least the 1860s and the head from a china doll.
The doll is believed to be a Frozen Charlotte, which were popular toys that got their name from a song about a vain girl who refused to cover up and froze to death on a winter's night.
The connection to Aboriginal land
When the excavations from European settlement are complete, traditional owners will be invited on site to excavate older deposits.
Ms Goulding said the area was used by Indigenous people camping by the Yarra River.
"Towards the end of our historical archaeological program we then move into the Indigenous archaeological program."
What will happen to the artefacts?
The team is processing the hundreds of thousands of artefacts uncovered in the first four months of the dig.
"A conservator does conservation work on the very fragile ones and then the artefacts get catalogued and they get processed properly," Ms Goulding said.
"They're bagged up, labelled and then they get stored for future generations."
Some of them will be put on display at Metro Tunnel HQ located at 125-133 Swanston Street from September 24.
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