meet the team

“At sites of trauma I have worked with those directly affected by institutional care and confinement to interpret and understand the heritage fabric and archaeological objects in their terms. I have a solid understanding of the structural nature of social history and the positive results that can be developed through engaging with intangible heritage values.”
— Mike Hincks, Principal, Team Leader

Mike Hincks

PRINCIPAL, TEAM LEADER, HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY

A middle-aged man with gray hair, glasses, and a beard, wearing a light blue button-up shirt, stands against a plain, muted wall.

As a heritage professional with 20 years experience in heritage management across New South Wales, Mike brings a wealth of expertise to the Artefact team.

Recognised by Heritage NSW as a Primary Excavation Director at a State-significant level, Mike has extensive experience in assessing heritage significance, managing and mitigating heritage impacts, and directing historical archaeological programs on large-scale sites.

Mike has directed excavations on nationally significant archaeological sites including Cockatoo Island, Old Government House, and the Parramatta Female Factory and Institutions Precinct, as well as large-scale nineteenth-century industrial, residential and harbourside sites, and institutional places such as convict, welfare and mental health facilities.

Mike’s artefact

A human skull model on a white table in a room with white chairs in the background.

“Long before I became an archaeologist, I worked at a museum making casts of fossils for display. It was my job to make polyurethane look like million-year-old rock. This Australopithecus africanus was one of my first attempts. She never made the grade, but she became my well-loved, slightly creepy companion in the workshop.

It was making her and her relatives that made me want to be an archaeologist. Faking old bones was good, but I wanted to know what it was like to find the real thing.”