Archaeology against the clock: the race to salvage fragments of early Brisbane

Handling history: Queensland Museum is working with university archaeology students to help catalogue finds from early Brisbane, which were unearthed during the 2011 floods. Photograph: David Kelly/The Guardian

In a white and sterile office that could belong to any one of the warehouses that dot this industrial strip between Brisbane’s airport and horse-racing precinct, a young woman is engrossed in a puzzle.

Only this puzzle comprises, perhaps, three different sets, each almost (but not quite) identical to the other – and none likely to be completed.