The site includes the remains of early convict-era housing dating as far back as 1795, and a modern youth hostel has been built elevated over the remnants.

[1] The Rocks area, including this archaeological site, witnessed some of the first encounters between the traditional owners, the Cadigal people, and the newly arrived settlers of the first and later second fleets.

Physical evidence collected during the extensive excavation of the site in 1994 included at least one piece of post-1790 porcelain, which had been expertly flaked by Aboriginal people, presumably for use as a useful tool.

Other convict families, such as Ann Armsden and her First Fleet husband George Legg lived across the lane from Cribb in a large stone house, built on top of and partially into the natural sandstone that gave the area its name.

[1] The archaeological site existed as part of the broader Rocks community, from its earliest phase to the beginnings of the twentieth century.

The community on the site represented a broad cross-section of the people living in The Rocks through the later eighteenth and nineteenth century; bond and free, rich and poor.

Houses were often small and conditions cramped, which added to the tensions of poverty that some residents experienced and strengthened the feeling of community that existed within the site.

Combining these factors, the crowded streets, back lanes and hotels gave the outside world the impression that the area was an urban slum, a reputation that stayed with The Rocks and subject site for much of its history.

[1] For the remainder of the twentieth century, the archaeological site was leased to a variety of users, including machinery and joinery workshops, the City Railway Workshops, motor garages, the NRMA and Department of Motor Transport and Tramways as a bus parking station, and later as a Sydney Cove Redevelopment Authority commissioning the archaeological excavation and historical research that was undertaken on the site in the early- and mid-1990s.

[1] Construction of Sydney Harbour YHA and The Big Dig Archaeology Education Centre took place between September 2008 and October 2009.

The buildings are supported by structural-steel trusses spanning over the archaeological remains, allowing over 85% of the site to be visible at ground level.

[1] The 106-room Sydney Harbour YHA hostel and The Big Dig Archaeology Education Centre were officially opened in April 2010.

he new light-weight building is suspended above the archaeology, supported by a minimal number of pillars resulting from structural steel's innovative use.

[1] Excavation of the archaeological site required removing approximately 1500 contexts or deposits ranging from concrete and bitumen pavements through dumps of building rubble or demolition and occupation accumulation.

Some deposits and other material have been introduced to the site since the 1994 investigation to protect or stabilise the exposed remains (e.g. wells and cesspits were lined with Bidum and backfilled).

[1] As of 15 October 2010, dating from 1795, the archaeological site has outstanding cultural significance as rare surviving evidence of the mostly convict and ex-convict community established on The Rocks at the time of Australia's first European settlement.

The site has a unique ability to provide a "hands-on" experience of important phases of Sydney's history and development and has high interpretative and educational potential.

[6][1] Cumberland Street archaeological site was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 17 December 2010, having satisfied the following criteria.

The site's physical elements provide a material dimension to this part of early Sydney history and evidence of the convict/ex-convict lifestyle.

The latter is particularly significant as the organic growth of The Rocks settlement and lack of government regulation evident in the remains of houses contrasts the popular perceptions of convict life.

[1] The Rocks were significant as both domicile and workplace for Sydney society's lower orders in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century.

Features directly connected with the early occupation of The Rocks, particularly the evidence of material culture and buildings which have been revealed through archaeological investigation, reflect the taste habits and means, and hence the sociocultural characteristics of the site's inhabitants.

The collection of artefacts provides evidence that leads to questions about the traditional view of this area during the late nineteenth century as a "blighted slum".

[1] Through historical records and surviving physical evidence, that site is associated with many significant phases of Sydney's history and processes that have shaped the growing colony's development.

This layering is particularly evident within the site itself, where historical events, phases and occupations are reflected in the fine grained texture of intersecting topography and structural remains.

The YHA development has been described as arguably one of the best contemporary examples of in situ conservation of archaeological remains in an urban context anywhere in the world.

The thousands of people who visited the archaeological site and participated in the 1994 excavation program at varying levels demonstrate its value to the contemporary community.

This site and the collection of excavated material form a resource which contributes to a better understanding of social, economic and cultural history of Sydney and The Rocks community in particular.

Analysis of the data gathered has addressed major historical questions, including the impact of the industrial revolution, the rise of class, women's occupation and lives, the ongoing debate on the standard of living for working-class people in urban areas, the social and cultural role of The Rocks within the larger city, and the changing impact of Government over the historical period.

In this respect, the archaeological site contrasts with many other places in urban Australia where the extent of building activity undertaken during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s has removed structures and stratified deposits.