A vessel lying abandoned on the mudflats of Hindmarsh Island in South Australia lived for over 60 years after 1891. In that time it passed through the hands of 10 different owners and operators. Its working life is set against a backdrop of tumultuous political, social and environmental events that served not only to unhinge and uproot people and families, but also entire institutions and the youth of a nation, viz. the closing years of the Australian Industrial Revolution; two world wars; two international economic depressions; and in the face of threats real or imagined, the associated social and political change. Finally abandoned, Ada&Clara, a schooner, and later showboat, became inextricably linked to the lake on which it sailed, to the people associated with it and its economic context. Subject of a Master's thesis in maritime archaeology, it employs a neo-Marxist paradigm as an interpretive tool that allows a glimpse into the mindset of its owners and operators. The study shows that even the mundane can disguise within its archaeological record, the fabric and context that gives an insight into the much broader economic, political and social import.

Jessica Berry's background is in journalism. She wroteextensively for UK broadsheets in the Middle East and the UK before taking a Masters in maritimearchaeology in Australia. She is now working as a maritime archaeologist in the UK.