Sharon Lane holds an Honours degree in Archaeology from the University of Sydney, a Graduate Diploma in Humanities (Archaeology) from La Trobe University and a PhD in Archaeology from the University of Sydney. Sharon’s PhD explored the nature and use of the Aboriginal stone-based huts of the Mt Eccles region of southwestern Victoria.
Sharon’s experience in archaeological fieldwork dates back to the late 1980s, which she began volunteering on excavations whiles attending high school. Sharon has been involved in archaeological consulting in Victoria since 1994, and has also worked on projects in NSW, the Northern Territory, Tasmania, Western Australia, South Australia and overseas.
Sharon has directed a wide range of historical and Indigenous archaeology projects for a wide variety of purposes and clients – from heritage assessments of new road alignments to heritage inventories undertaken for Aboriginal community landholders. Recent projects undertaken by Sharon include the Colgin Place Project (2015-2016), which involved directing a large historical excavation in Melbourne CBD, and the production of the associated site and artefact documentation as well as the excavation report (in prep).
Sharon is a full member of the Australian Association of Consulting Archaeologists Inc (AACAI), an associate member of the International Council of Monuments and Sites (Australia ICOMOS), a Penshurst Volcanoes Discovery Centre volunteer, as well as a Science Experience program planning committee member and presenter. Sharon is recognised by AACAI as a specialist in artefact analysis, and serves as a member of the ICOMOS Indigenous Heritage Reference Group. Sharon also served as treasurer on the Professional Historian’s Association of Victoria Committee of Management from 2014 to 2016.
Sharon Lane was a co- author (with Alyssa Gilchrist, 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, Sharon Lane and Alyssa Gilchrist 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.