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The archaeology of shipwrecks is the field of
archaeology
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
specialized most commonly in the study and exploration of
shipwrecks
A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. Shipwrecking may be intentional or unintentional. Angela Croome reported in January 1999 that there were approximately ...
. Its techniques combine those of archaeology with those of
diving
Diving most often refers to:
* Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water
* Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes
Diving or Dive may also refer to:
Sports
* Dive (American football), a ...
to become
Underwater archaeology
Underwater archaeology is archaeology practiced underwater. As with all other branches of archaeology, it evolved from its roots in pre-history and in the classical era to include sites from the historical and industrial eras. Its acceptance has ...
. However, shipwrecks are discovered on what have become terrestrial sites.
It is necessary to understand the processes and theories by which a wreck site is formed to take into account the distortions in the archaeological material caused by the filtering and scrambling of material remains that occurs during and after the wrecking process.
Prior to being wrecked, the ship would have operated as an organised machine, and its crew, equipment, passengers and cargo need to be considered as a system. The material remains should provide clues to the functions of
seaworthiness
Seakeeping ability or seaworthiness is a measure of how well-suited a watercraft is to conditions when underway. A ship or boat which has good seakeeping ability is said to be very seaworthy and is able to operate effectively even in high sea stat ...
,
navigation
Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation, ...
and
propulsion
Propulsion is the generation of force by any combination of pushing or pulling to modify the translational motion of an object, which is typically a rigid body (or an articulated rigid body) but may also concern a fluid. The term is derived from ...
as well as to ship-board life. These clues can also infer how a ship functioned, in special regards to social, political, and economic systems. These underwater shipwreck sites are protected under the UNESCO Convention.
UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage
Shipwrecks that have been underwater for one hundred years or more are protected by the
. This convention aims at preventing looting and the destruction or loss of historic and cultural information. It helps states parties to protect their underwater cultural heritage with an international legal framework.
Theories of shipwrecks
Muckelroy's model
A systematic model for the characterisation and interpretation of the archaeology of shipwrecks was first proposed by
Keith Muckelroy Keith Muckelroy (1951-1980) was a pioneer of maritime archaeology. Instead of the traditional particularist or historiographic approach used by maritime archaeologists, Muckelroy's ideas were new to the field, influenced by the prehistoric and analy ...
in 1976 in a paper on the
''Kennemerland'', which was wrecked in 1664.
[.] Muckelroy's system model describes the evolution of the material remains of the ship from the wrecking process, subsequent salvage operations and the disintegration and rearrangements of the remains from environmental factors. Although Muckelroy considered both natural processes and human activity in his model, subsequent research has mainly expanded the environmental factors and there has been little published on the human processes.
Considering human intervention
A paper by Martin Gibbs in 2006, expands Muckelroy's model to consider human behaviour at the time of the disaster and the long term relationship between people and
shipwrecks. This model uses studies of humans involved in disasters to characterise the human activity into phases around the time of the wrecking. This model considers:
* ''Pre-impact threat phase'', in which humans considering the risk may take avoiding action which results in there being no wreck, or may take unsuccessful action to mitigate the perceived threat, for example the wreck location may be the result of attempting to avoid some perceived greater threat. Stowage of cargo may also indicate consideration of threat.
* ''Pre-impact warning phase'', in which humans may take drastic action to avoid catastrophe, for example, running a vessel ashore, jettisoning cargo or running out anchors.
* ''Impact'', in which the decision is made to abandon ship or remain aboard, and, for example, attempt to refloat.
* ''Post impact'', where survivors regroup and, for example, salvage their own goods or make repairs.
* ''Rescue and Post-disaster'' where the vessel is abandoned and in which third parties may be involved in salvage or in removing remains that present a hazard to navigation.
Preservation of material underwater
Of the many examples where the sea bed provides an extremely hostile environment for submerged evidence of history, one of the most notable, the ''
RMS Titanic
RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United ...
'', though a relatively young wreck and in deep water so calcium-starved that
concretion
A concretion is a hard, compact mass of matter formed by the precipitation of mineral cement within the spaces between particles, and is found in sedimentary rock or soil. Concretions are often ovoid or spherical in shape, although irregular ...
does not occur, appears strong and relatively intact, though indications are that it has already incurred irreversible degradation of her steel and iron hull. As such degradation inevitably continues, data will be forever lost, objects' context will be destroyed and the bulk of the wreck will over centuries completely deteriorate on the floor of the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
. Comparative evidence shows that all iron and steel ships, especially those in a highly oxygenated environment, continue to degrade and will continue to do so until only their engines and other machinery project much above the sea-floor. Where it remains even after the passage of time, the iron or steel hull is often fragile with no remaining metal within the layer of concretion and corrosion products. The ''
USS Monitor'', having been found in the 1970s, was subjected to a program of attempted ''in situ'' preservation, for example, but deterioration of the vessel progressed at such a rate that the rescue of her turret was undertaken lest nothing be saved from the wreck.
Some wrecks, lost to natural obstacles to navigation, are at risk of being smashed by subsequent wrecks sunk by the same hazard, or are deliberately destroyed because they present a hazard to navigation. Even in deep water, commercial activities such as pipe-laying operations and deep sea trawling can place a wreck at risk. Such a wreck is the ''Mardi Gras''
shipwreck sunk in the
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...
in 4,000 feet (1220 meters) of water. The shipwreck lay forgotten at the bottom of the sea until it was discovered in 2002 by an oilfield inspection crew working for the Okeanos Gas Gathering Company (OGGC). Large pipelines can crush sites and render some of their remnants inaccessible as pipe is dropped from the ocean surface to the substrate thousands of feet below. Trawl nets snag and tear superstructures and separate artifacts from their context.
Once underwater, chemical processes and the action of biological organisms will contribute to the disintegration. At any point in these processes, humans may have intervened, for example by
salvaging items of value.
![The Vasa from the Bow](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/The_Vasa_from_the_Bow.jpg)
The wrecks, and other archaeological sites that have been preserved have generally survived because the dynamic nature of the sea bed can result in artifacts becoming rapidly buried in sediments. These sediments then provide an anaerobic environment which protects from further degradation. Wet environments, whether on land in the form of peat bogs and wells, or underwater are particularly important for the survival of organic material, such as wood, leather, fabric and horn. Cold and absence of light also aid survival of artifacts, because there is little energy available for either organic activity or chemical reactions. Salt water provides for greater organic activity than freshwater, and in particular, the
shipworm
The shipworms are marine bivalve molluscs in the family Teredinidae: a group of saltwater clams with long, soft, naked bodies. They are notorious for boring into (and commonly eventually destroying) wood that is immersed in sea water, including ...
, teredo navalis, lives only in salt water, so some of the best preservation in the absence of sediments has been found in the cold, dark waters of the
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...
in North America and in the (low salinity)
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
(where the ''Vasa'' was preserved).
Interpretation and presentation of shipwrecks
Diver trails also called wreck trails can be used to allow scuba-divers to visit and understand archaeological sites that are suitable for scuba-diving One excellent example is the
Florida Public Archaeology Network
The Florida Public Archaeology Network, or FPAN, is a state supported organization of regional centers dedicated to public outreach and assisting Florida municipalities and the Florida Division of Historical Resources "to promote the stewardship ...
's (FPAN) "Florida Panhandle Shipwreck Trail." The Florida Panhandle Shipwreck Trail features 12
shipwrecks
A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. Shipwrecking may be intentional or unintentional. Angela Croome reported in January 1999 that there were approximately ...
including
artificial reefs
An artificial reef is a human-created underwater structure, typically built to promote marine life in areas with a generally featureless bottom, to control erosion, block ship passage, block the use of trawling nets, or improve surfing.
Many re ...
and a variety of sea life for diving, snorkeling and fishing offshore of Pensacola, Destin, Panama City and Port St. Joe,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
. Otherwise presentation will typically rely on publication (book or
journal
A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to:
*Bullet journal, a method of personal organization
*Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period
*Daybook, also known as a general journal, a ...
articles, web-sites and electronic media such as CD-ROM). Television programs, web videos and social media can also bring an understanding of underwater archaeology to a broad audience. The ''Mardi Gras'' Shipwreck Project integrated a one-hour HD documentary, short videos for public viewing and video updates during the expedition as part of the educational outreach. Webcasting is also another tool for educational outreach. For one week in 2000 and 2001, live
underwater video of the ''
Queen Anne's Revenge
''Queen Anne's Revenge'' was an early-18th-century ship, most famously used as a flagship by Edward Teach, better known by his nickname Blackbeard. Although the date and place of the ship's construction are uncertain, it was originally believed ...
'' Shipwreck Project was
webcast
A webcast is a media presentation distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology to distribute a single content source to many simultaneous listeners/viewers. A webcast may either be distributed live or on demand. Essentially, web ...
to the
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
as a part of the ''QAR DiveLive'' educational program that reached thousands of children around the world. Created and co-produced by
Nautilus Productions
Nautilus Productions LLC is an American video production, stock footage, and photography company incorporated in Fayetteville, North Carolina in 1997. The principals are producer/director Rick Allen and photographer Cindy Burnham. Nautilus specia ...
and Marine Grafics, this project enabled students to talk to scientists and learn about methods and technologies used by the underwater archaeology team.
Examples of famous shipwrecks
RMS Titanic (1912)
![Titanic wreck bow](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Titanic_wreck_bow.jpg)
The infamous shipwreck of the
Titanic
RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United ...
occurred on April 15, 1912. This ship was the largest and most luxurious ocean liner at the time of its launch. Following impact with an iceberg, the ship split in two and sank to a depth of more than 2 miles below the surface. Deep in the Atlantic, the bow of ship sank deep into the clay at the bottom of the ocean, scattering artefacts from dishes, machinery, tiles, and even the remains of passengers throughout miles of seabed. However, processes of the sea began to work against the Titanic’s existence. "Marine organisms and acidic clay consumed wood and other organic material, including human remains. Bacteria colonized and began to eat away at the steel, leaving behind tendrils and puddles of red, orange, and yellow byproducts." Seventy three years after its sinking, it was discovered in 1985. Since then, in 2010 robotic vehicles allowed for realistic footage and archeologists to walk the decks of the ship.
SS Georgiana (1863)
SS Georgiana was an American steamboat, cargo ship of the Confederate States back in the mid 1800's. It was considered one of the most powerful confederate cruisers. However, on its maiden voyage it was scuttled and burned. In 1965, it was discovered by E. Lee Spence in Charleston, SC. "Today the ''Georgiana'' sits on the bottom with her huge boiler only five feet (1.5 m) under the surface. She is now covered with a wide array of
sea fan
Alcyonacea, or soft corals, are an order of corals. In addition to the fleshy soft corals, the order Alcyonacea now contains all species previously known as "gorgonian corals", that produce a more or less hard skeleton, though quite different ...
, sea whips, and living
corals
Corals are marine invertebrates within the class (biology), class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important C ...
. Large sections of the hull are still intact. In places the starboard side of the hull protrudes over nine feet (3 m) from the sand."
Queen Anne's Revenge - Blackbeard's flagship
This vessel was believed to be Blackbeard's flagship after artifacts have proven its origin. This ship was originally named "La Concorde" and served as a French slave ship. As the ship managed through the
Middle Passage, many French and Africans had perished or were severely ill. Blackbeard and his crew came across the French Ship, and were able to obtain it and the La Concorde's crew and passengers could not fight. In 1996, a team of researchers found artifacts near historic Beaufort Inlet that confirmed the ship's origin. "Several diagnostic artifacts were recovered from the site, designated North Carolina shipwreck site 31CR314, including a bronze bell dated 1705, a sounding weight, an English blunderbuss barrel, a lead cannon apron and two cannonballs."
These 18th century artifacts, cannons, and large anchors also confirmed the ship's identity.
See also
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Famous shipwrecks
*
Uluburun
The Uluburun Shipwreck is a Late Bronze Age shipwreck dated to the late 14th century BC, discovered close to the east shore of Uluburun (Grand Cape), Turkey, in the Mediterranean Sea. The shipwreck was discovered in the summer of 1982 by Mehmed Ç ...
Late Bronze Age shipwreck, 14th century BC
*
Cape Gelidonya
Cape Gelidonya ( tr, Gelidonya Burnu or Taşlık Burnu, from el, Χελιδωνία, ''Chelidonia''; la, Chelidonium promontorium), formerly Kilidonia or Killidonia is a cape or headland on the Teke Peninsula in the chain of Taurus Mountains, loc ...
Late Bronze Age shipwreck, c. 1200 BC
*
Antikythera
Antikythera or Anticythera ( ) is a Greek island lying on the edge of the Aegean Sea, between Crete and Peloponnese. In antiquity the island was known as (). Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality of Kythira islan ...
c 80-50 BC, includes the astronomical computer, the
Antikythera mechanism
The Antikythera mechanism ( ) is an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek hand-powered orrery, described as the oldest example of an analogue computer used to predict astronomy, astronomical positions and eclipses decades in advance. It could also be ...
* ''
Mary Rose
The ''Mary Rose'' (launched 1511) is a carrack-type warship of the English Tudor navy of King Henry VIII. She served for 33 years in several wars against France, Scotland, and Brittany. After being substantially rebuilt in 1536, she saw her l ...
'', 1545
* ''
Vasa'', 1628 discovered by Anders Franzén
*
VOC ship ''Batavia'', 1629
*
French explorer La Salle's ship ''La Belle'', 1686
* ''
Queen Anne's Revenge
''Queen Anne's Revenge'' was an early-18th-century ship, most famously used as a flagship by Edward Teach, better known by his nickname Blackbeard. Although the date and place of the ship's construction are uncertain, it was originally believed ...
'', 1718 -
Blackbeard
Edward Teach (alternatively spelled Edward Thatch, – 22 November 1718), better known as Blackbeard, was an English pirate who operated around the West Indies and the eastern coast of Britain's North American colonies. Little is known abou ...
's flagship
* ''
Leusden
Leusden () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. It is located about 3 kilometres southeast of Amersfoort.
The western part of the municipality lies on the slopes of the Utrecht Hill Ridge and is largely co ...
'', 1738 - Dutch West Indies slave ship, thought to be the greatest single loss of life of its kind in the
Atlantic slave trade
The Atlantic slave trade, transatlantic slave trade, or Euro-American slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of enslaved African people, mainly to the Americas. The slave trade regularly used the triangular trade route and i ...
*
VOC ship ''Amsterdam'', 1749
* ''
HMS Pandora'', 1791, is considered to be one of the most significant shipwrecks in the Southern Hemisphere.
* ''
Medusa
In Greek mythology, Medusa (; Ancient Greek: Μέδουσα "guardian, protectress"), also called Gorgo, was one of the three monstrous Gorgons, generally described as winged human females with living venomous snakes in place of hair. Those ...
'', 1816
* ''
SS Georgiana'', 1863, most powerful Confederate cruiser, was lost with million dollar cargo on maiden voyage, Charleston, SC, wreck discovered by E. Lee Spence in 1966.
* ''
Hunley
Hunley is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
People
*Con Hunley (born 1945), American country music singer
*Gary Hunley (born 1948), American child actor
*Helen Hunley (born 1920), Canadian politician
*Horace Lawson Hunley (1823-1 ...
'', 1864, first submarine in history to sink a ship, Charleston, SC, wreck 1st reported as discovered by E. Lee Spence in 1970. The wreck (at the location Spence had filed with National Park Service in 1974) was independently verified to be ''Hunley'' by 1994/95 NUMA/SCIAA expedition directed by
Mark M. Newell and funded by novelist
Clive Cussler
Clive Eric Cussler (July 15, 1931 – February 24, 2020) was an American adventure novelist and underwater explorer. His thriller novels, many featuring the character Dirk Pitt, have reached ''The New York Times'' fiction best-seller list ...
.
*
RMS ''Titanic'', 1912, discovered by
Robert Ballard
Robert Duane Ballard (born June 30, 1942) is an American retired Navy officer and a professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island who is most noted for his work in underwater archaeology: maritime archaeology and archaeology of ...
*
''Bismarck'', 1941, discovered by Robert Ballard
*
USS ''Arizona'', 1941
Famous wreck sites
* Ancient &
refugee ships of the
* German High Seas fleet of
Gutter Sound
Gutter Sound is a location in Orkney, Scotland, part of the vast anchorage of Scapa Flow. It lies to the west of the main harbour between the internal islands of Cava and Fara, and the large outer island of Hoy. Gutter Sound was the one of th ...
in
*
*
*
* , off the coast of
Santo Domingo
, total_type = Total
, population_density_km2 = auto
, timezone = AST (UTC −4)
, area_code_type = Area codes
, area_code = 809, 829, 849
, postal_code_type = Postal codes
, postal_code = 10100–10699 (Distrito Nacional)
, websi ...
Footnotes
External links
Institute of Nautical ArchaeologyNautical Archaeology SocietyLighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program (LAMP), St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum, St. Augustine, FloridaCentre for Maritime Archaeology, University of Ulster, ColeraineShipwrecks UK information on wrecks in the seas surrounding Britain and Ireland
The Sextant Online community of Underwater Archaeology and Maritime History
Ethics in Underwater Archaeology and Socialism versus Capitalism in Underwater Archaeology by E. Lee Spence
Florida Public Archaeology NetworkInstitute of Maritime HistoryNordic Underwater ArchaeologyFlinders University Maritime Archaeology Program*
ichard Stillwell, ed. ''Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites'', 1976:Richard Stillwell, ed. ''Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites'', 1976:]"Shipwrecks" Includes alphabetized list of known wreck sites from Classical Antiquity.
{{Underwater diving, prodiv
Archaeology of shipwrecks,
Maritime archaeology
Underwater archaeology