Shipwrecks

Classical Athenian trade in comparative perspective

by Geoffrey Kron

in E.M. Harris, D. Lewis (eds.), Beyond self-sufficiency: Households, city-states and markets in the ancient Greek world (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) (forthcoming)

I examine the importance of maritime trade in the Greek world of the Classical and Hellenistic periods, arguing that... more I examine the importance of maritime trade in the Greek world of the Classical and Hellenistic periods, arguing that it played a role in the economy of many Greek poleis comparable to that of the highly urbanized and prosperous civilizations of Renaissance Northern Italy or 17th century Holland, and significantly greater than in England, the early Modern world's other major international trading power, in the early 19th century. Two important indices of trade activity will be examined first: the taxes levied on maritime trade in the harbours of Athens, Delos, Rhodes and the member states of Athens' Delian league; and evidence for the size and cargo capacity of merchant ships. The rest of the paper will offer a synthesis of recent archaeological research, which corroborates this literary and epigraphic evidence for a high level of trade activity. Leaving aside agricultural products and transport amphoras, which are the subject of other papers, I will briefly discuss the evidence for the trade in commodities such as timber, metals and building stone, and discuss in greater depth a series of recent studies, which show how Greek manufactured goods, including painted or glazed fineware pottery, stone and terracotta statuary, jewelry, gold and silver plate, metalwork, furniture and housewares were imported and exported throughout the Mediterranean.

Lake Minnetonka Survey 1 Report

by Christopher Olson

Co-authored with Ann Merriman, 2012

The majority of Lake Minnetonka is in Hennepin County, with a small portion of its southwest edge crossing into Carver... more The majority of Lake Minnetonka is in Hennepin County, with a small portion of its southwest edge crossing into Carver County. Maritime Heritage Minnesota (MHM) received a private donation in September 2011 and a Minnesota Historical and Cultural Grant in November 2011 to conduct a side and down imaging sonar survey of Lower Lake Minnetonka and Crystal Bay in the Upper Lake in Hennepin County. Prior to this survey, only six wrecks were widely known. Of these, the Office of the State Archaeologist (OSA) recognized only one of these wrecks as a nautical archaeological site â the streetcar steamboat White Bear. Through the Lake Minnetonka Survey 1 Project (LMS-1), MHM has identified three additional wreck sites in Lower Lake Minnetonka, the steamboat pier and remains on Big Island as an archaeological site, and completed the Minnesota archaeological site forms necessary to recognize the five previously known sites with State site numbers. Further, MHM has located additional wreck sites that require further research to determine if they qualify for a site number, other anomalies that are probable and possible wrecks, and anomalies that may represent maritime infrastructure or even sunken fish houses.

Lake Minnetonka Survey 1 Report

by Ann Merriman

This project was funded in part by a Minnesota Historical and
Cultural Grant, part of  the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment
voted on by the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008.

The majority of Lake Minnetonka is in Hennepin County, with a small portion of its southwest edge crossing into Carver... more The majority of Lake Minnetonka is in Hennepin County, with a small portion of its southwest edge crossing into Carver County. Maritime Heritage Minnesota (MHM) received a private donation in September 2011 and a Minnesota Historical and Cultural Grant in November 2011 to conduct a side and down imaging sonar survey of Lower Lake Minnetonka and Crystal Bay in the Upper Lake in Hennepin County. Prior to this survey, only six wrecks were widely known. Of these, the Office of the State Archaeologist (OSA) recognized only one of these wrecks as a nautical archaeological site â the streetcar steamboat White Bear. Through the Lake Minnetonka Survey 1 Project (LMS-1), MHM has identified three additional wreck sites in Lower Lake Minnetonka, the steamboat pier and remains on Big Island as an archaeological site, and completed the Minnesota archaeological site forms necessary to recognize the five previously known sites with State site numbers. Further, MHM has located additional wreck sites that require further research to determine if they qualify for a site number, other anomalies that are probable and possible wrecks, and anomalies that may represent maritime infrastructure or even sunken fish houses.

Three Renaissance Wrecks from Turkey and Their Implications for Maritime History in the Eastern Mediterranean

by Jeffrey Royal

At the Transition from Late Medieval to Early Modern: the Archaeology of Three Wrecks from Turkey

by Jeffrey Royal

Minnesota's Lake Superior Shipwrecks: Recent Listings in the National Register of Historic Places

by David Mather

The Minnesota Archaeologist 67:187-195 (2009)

This article is the first in a series of updates on Minnesota archaeological sites listed in the National Register of... more This article is the first in a series of updates on Minnesota archaeological sites listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Two Lake Superior shipwreck sites are presented here. The wooden bulk carrier Robert Wallace sank in 1902, and was listed in the NRHP in 2009. The Benjamin Noble, a steel bulk freight carrier, sank in 1914 and was listed in the NRHP in 2007. The shipwrecks were nominated under the Multiple Property Documentation Form “Minnesota’s Lake Superior Shipwrecks (A.D. 1650-1945).” Both vessels were lost in deep water. They were recently discovered, documented and nominated to the NRHP through the efforts of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society.

Gibbs, M. 2006 Cultural site formation processes in Maritime Archaeology: Disaster response, salvage and Muckelroy 30 years on. International J. of Nautical Archaeology 35(1): 4-19.

by Martin Gibbs

Thirty years after Muckelroy’s seminal 1976 paper on shipwreck site formation, research on the cultural processes... more Thirty years after Muckelroy’s seminal 1976 paper on shipwreck site formation, research on the cultural processes which
contribute to the creation and modification of shipwrecks remains limited. It is proposed that by adopting a process-oriented
framework, we can integrate and synthesize the documentary, oral and archaeological evidence of human response to shipwreck into a structure which parallels the physical progress of the disaster. Possible cultural responses to shipwreck are considered, from pre-voyage planning through to post-impact salvage, including physical correlations potentially visible in the archaeological
record.

Gibbs, M. 2005 Watery Graves: When Ships become Places. In J. Lydon & T. Ireland (Eds.), Object Lessons. Australian Scholarly Press, Melbourne, pp50-70.

by Martin Gibbs

Gibbs, M. 2004 Maritime Archaeology in Australia. In T. Murray (Ed), Archaeology in Australia, Australian Scholarly Press, Melbourne. Pp. 36-54.

by Martin Gibbs

Gibbs, M. 2004 Maritime Archaeology in Australia. In T. Murray (Ed), Archaeology in Australia, Australian Scholarly Press, Melbourne. Pp. 36-54.

by Martin Gibbs

Gibbs M. & E. McPhee 2004 The Raine Island Entrance: Wreck Traps and the Search for a Safe Route through the Great Barrier Reef. The Great Circle – J. of Aust. Maritime History 26(2):24-54.

by Martin Gibbs

Gibbs, M. 2003 The Archaeology of Crisis: Shipwreck Survivor Camps in Australasia. Historical Archaeology: J. of the American Society for Historical Archaeology, 37(1):128-145.

by Martin Gibbs

Shipwreck survivor camps are a neglected terrestrial component
of maritime archaeology, usually being... more Shipwreck survivor camps are a neglected terrestrial component
of maritime archaeology, usually being investigated
purely as an adjunct to work on the associated wreck site.
Most studies have considered these sites as individual and
unique, molded by the particulars of the historic events that
created them. However, by considering the history, anthropology,
and archaeology of a series of Australasian survivor
incidents and sites, this paper highlights common elements
and themes, which allow examination of these sites within
a comparative framework. These include the development of
authority structures, social organization, salvage and subsistence
strategies, material culture, short- and long-term rescue
strategies, and the possible influences of crisis-related stress
upon the decisions made by individuals and groups. Survivor
camp studies are linked into the wider concerns of maritime
archaeology and anthropology by placing them within the
context of wreck formation models.

Gibbs, M. 2002 Behavioral models of crisis response as a tool for archaeological interpretation – A case study of the 1629 wreck of the V.O.C. Ship Batavia on the Houtman Abrolhos Islands, Western Australia. Pp.66-86 in J. Grattan and R. Torrence (Eds) Natural Disasters, Catastrophism and Cultural Change. One World Archaeology Series: Routledge: New York.

by Martin Gibbs

Novy Svet i jego podwodny swiat [originally published in Polish; Novy Svet and its underwater world]

by Ania Kotarba-Morley

in: Archaeologia Zywa 1 (40) 2008

Mica Shipwreck Project: Deepwater Archaeological Investigation of a 19th Century Shipwreck in the Gulf of Mexico.

by Ayse Atauz Phaneuf

co-authored with:
W. Bryant
T. Jones
B. Phaneuf

In February 2001, an eight-inch gas pipeline was placed on the seafloor and passed directly through the midships... more In February 2001, an eight-inch gas pipeline was placed on the seafloor and passed directly through the midships section of a historic shipwreck tentatively dated between 1775 and 1830. Upon discovery, the shipwreck was immediately reported to the Mineral Management Service (MMS), the agency with jurisdiction over submerged archaeological resources discovered in federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico. The shipwreck lies approximately eight hundred meters deep and is sitting upright on its keel with the remaining portion of the hull clad in copper sheathing.

After a preliminary study of the shipwreck conducted by ROV and funded by Exxon-Mobil, Inc., the MMS entered into a cooperative agreement with Texas A&M University (TAMU) to conduct an archaeological study of the wreck-site and the surrounding area. Through ProMare, TAMU requested the use of the United States Navy Nuclear Resarch Ssubmarine, NR1, and her support ship, SSV Carolyn Chouest, to conduct the study and to compile detailed side-scan sonar imagery and photo-mosaics of the site, and to recover a limited number of diagnostic artifacts, and to determine the origin and age of the ship.

Archaeological research revealed that the hull of the ship was constructed of Eastern White Pine that grows only along the eastern seaboard of the United States north of Virginia. Based on the presence of copper sheathing (to protect the hull from wood-boring marine organisms) and the general morphology of the ship, it most likely dates between the years 1800 and 1830. This small coastal merchant vessel (approximately twenty-five meters in length) was ubiquitous in the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean, and throughout North American coastal waters. Ships of this type were the lifeblood of commerce and industry in the burgeoning United States. Archaeologists believe that this small merchant ship located on the main shipping route to and from New Orleans was either heading to or departing from that port when it came to grief.

A Roman Shipwreck off the Island of Capraia, Italy

by Ayse Atauz Phaneuf

co-authored with: P. Holt, D. Bartoli, P. Gambogi

Le Formiche shipwreck site—comprising the remains of a Roman merchantman—was surveyed and studied in the summer of... more Le Formiche shipwreck site—comprising the remains of a Roman merchantman—was surveyed and studied in the summer of 2009, near the island of Capraia in the Ligurian Sea. The project was conducted by a joint team of archaeologists from ProMare and SBAToscana, Tuscany’s Underwater Archaeological Operative Unit (Nucleo Operativo Subacqueo). The vessel, which may have originated from a port on the central Italian coast facing the Tyrrhenian Sea was likely destined for southern France.

Artifacts that were recovered from the site included commercial storage containers (amphoras), black-glazed Campanian ceramics, and an oil lamp. No wooden remains of the ship’s hull were discovered, but artifacts that were parts of the vessel such as metal fasteners and nails (indicative of wood planking), the remains of an anchor, and roof tiles that were typically used to cover the roof of a ship’s galley, indicated the possibility of a deteriorated hull. Comparative dating of the diagnostic artifacts – based on the parallels identified for the amphoras, Campanian ceramics, and a preserved bronze coin – suggest a late second – early first century BC date for the site.

The fact that the artifacts were scattered in sand pockets inside and around a large posidonia growth seemed to indicate that parts of the site are obscured by this seagrass. A trench was excavated to test this hypothesis and several artifacts were recovered from beneath the roots.

Analysis of the archaeological data indicates that the assemblage represents the remains of a ship that was travelling a well-known route frequented by many similar vessels in this period. This conclusion is supported by comparisons between the artifacts found in the assemblage of Le Formiche Shipwreck and those discovered among the remains of several ships that carried amphoras and black-glazed Campanian ceramics from central Italy towards the sourthern France. Shipwreck assemblages that contain parallels with Le Formiche include those from Pegli, Albenga, Antibes, Dramont A, Cap Roux, Villepey, Anthéor, Bon Porte, Titan, Tiboulen, Cavalière, Spargi, Port Vendres and especially Grand Congloué II.

The 1629 Mass Grave for Batavia Victims, Beacon Island, Houtman Abrolhos Islands, Western Australia

by Alistair Paterson

Paterson, Alistair G., and Daniel Franklin
2004 Australasian Historical Archaeology 22:71-78.

SANTO ANTONIO DE TANNÁ, STORY AND RECONSTRUCTION

by Tiago Fraga

Paper presented in Proceedings of the First Centre for Portuguese Nautical Studies
Maritime Archaeology Conference

Fregatten Mynden: a 17th‐century Danish Frigate Found in Northern Germany

by Jens Auer

The British Brig Water Nymph or... even an Englishman cannot take the liberty to deride a civil servant on German soil

by Jens Auer