Alyssa holds an Honours degree in Archaeology and History from the University of Sydney and has been involved in archaeological work since 2003. Alyssa has worked on a variety of archaeological and heritage management projects, ranging form the survey and recording of Indigenous archaeological sites on the Burrup Peninsula, Western Australia, to the excavation of historical archaeological sites in Sydney.
Alyssa has directed a range of archaeological survey, subsurface testing and recording programs for Indigenous and historical heritage projects in rural and regional Victoria as well as in metropolitan Melbourne. She has also worked on a range of archaeological projects across a variety of regions in Western Australia, as well undertaking work in Tasmania and New South Wales. Alyssa is an experienced project manager and skilled editor of technical reports.
In recent years Alyssa has been involved in a range of different historical projects both research and collections management based, including a number of assessments of archival/heritage collections held by non-profit organisations. One of these recent projects involved an assessment of the heritage collection (documents, oral history and artefacts) of a large non-profit organisation whose history dates back to the early 1800s. This assessment looked at the contents and condition of the collection, and in line with the organisation’s strategic plan, set out a plan for organising, digitising and caring for the collection over the coming year.
Alyssa is a member of the Professional Historian’s Association of Western Australia, and is a Heritage Advisor as per Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Regulations (2007). Since 2008, Alyssa has been part of a business partnership with Sharon Lane, operating the consultancy Qu.A.C. Archaeology and Heritage. Alyssa Gilchrist was a co-author (with Sharon Lane, Jim Wheeler and Paul Irish) of a paper presented at the 2010 Australian Archaeological Association annual conference, in the AACAI consultant archaeologists session. This paper was a discussion of the ways in which legislative frameworks and their application by consent authorities influences the way in which the archaeological record is described and understood by consultants. The paper was awarded the Laila Haglund Prize for Excellence in Consultancy.
As part of a project undertaken by Qu.A.C. Archaeology and Heritage, Alyssa Gilchrist and Sharon Lane have recently been cataloguing, researching and writing up an excavation that was undertaken in 2016 opposite the Queen Victoria Markets in Melbourne CBD. The dig site (which was occupied until recently by an early 20th century warehouse) held the remains of Melbourne’s 19th Century Soho Foundry, associated outbuildings, and the foundry owner’s house.
The Soho foundry was first established at this location in the early 1860s, and continued operating in various incarnations until its final demolition in the early 20th century. The site is representative of an important industry in early Melbourne, and the site of the Soho foundry is currently the only example of an entire 19th century foundry footprint that has been subject to archaeological assessment and excavation in Melbourne.