About Us

Where did we start and where are we going?

Archaeological Excavations was created by Adam Deane, who began his journey in archaeology through happenstance in 2005 as a machine operator on an archaeological site in North Melbourne. Through working alongside the community, Adam developed a keen interest in Australia’s Indigenous past and future and saw areas of opportunity for improvement. From there, the seeds of Archaeological Excavations had been planted. 

Adam officially registered the company in July 2010. At that stage, Archaeological Excavations comprised one employee and one machine. Adam worked tirelessly, driven by his passion to improve the protection and preservation of Indigenous archaeology, spending his first few months hand building some of the company’s first mechanical sieves to improve excavation methods. 

After hiring a core team of decorated archaeologists, Archaeological Excavations began working on some of the most significant projects in Victoria. One such example is the salvage at Lyndhurst, where the company, in collaboration with community, made the decision to continue excavation below what was at the time considered ‘basement’. As a result, some of Victoria’s oldest evidence of human occupation, dating to the Pleistocene ice age (approximately 35,000 years BP), were recovered. These artefacts have contributed to our understanding of the extent of Victoria’s Indigenous occupation. 

Through passion, hard work and strong community relationships, Archaeological Excavations has flourished into a dedicated team of archaeologists, anthropologists, GIS specialists and operators with a fleet of machines and interstate projects. The team works closely alongside each other, even is separated by thousands of kilometers between projects, to ensure that we deliver results. 

So where are we going from here? We aim to lead the way in modern archaeological services.  Archaeological Excavations continues to seek out ways to improve and streamline archaeological excavation in order to deliver outstanding results to our clients and community. As a company, we strive to do the ground-breaking. We are incorporating new methods of site detection, including the use of remote sensing through drone survey, LiDAR and ground penetrating radar (GPR) as well as utilising 3D photogrammetry. We will continue to seek out the new and improved. 

The pioneering spirit of innovation and progress is ingrained into our company’s ethos. Contact one of our staff members today to see how we can help manage your complex methodological, legislative and consultive requirements for Aboriginal and historical compliance across Australia.

Vision:

To be the industry leader in assisting with the protection, preservation, and celebration of Australia heritage

Mission:

To discover, develop, and deliver innovative heritage management solutions by linking industry, government, and community.