NOAA Discovers Whaling Ship in the Pacific!

Here’s a link to a very cool story about a recent NOAA discovery.  Click here: http://starbulletin.com/2008/08/29/news/story03.html

Using Social Utilities to Reach a Wider Audience

As part of our mission to share ethical underwater archaeological research
with the general public we have created a group page on Facebook. We hope
to reach a new audience through this medium by reaching out to groups who
perhaps know little about what we do. Why are we telling you since you’re
already visiting the MUA?

Our Facebook group allows visitors to upload their own videos, photos,
links, discuss topics, and ask questions. So if you’d like to let people
know about you and your work without doing a formal web post this could be a
great option for you. An additional benefit is that through issuing
invitations to your Facebook “friends” you can help spread the word about
preserving submerged cultural resources.

To join our Facebook group you will need your own Facebook account. It’s
free and easy to join. Once you’ve done that just search groups for “Museum
of Underwater Archaeology (MUA)” and click join.

You’ll be surprised by just how many folks you know who have already joined.

http://www.facebook.com

University of West Florida Field School Examines 16th and 19th Century Shipwrecks

The University of West Florida has begun its 2008 summer field school and will post weekly updates on their progress on the MUA. This summer’s activities include excavation on a sixteenth-century shipwreck site in Pensacola Bay, remote sensing survey using magnetometer, sub-bottom profiler and side scan sonar equipment, and hull recording of a nineteenth-century sidewheel steamboat in Seminole, Alabama.

Journals like this one offer an excellent opportunity to see how future underwater archaeologists are trained. The project journal includes updates from the field, student and staff biographies, plans, drawings, historic maps, and underwater images. We hope you’ll follow along!

http://www.uri.edu/artsci/his/mua/project_journals/wf/wf_intro.shtml

Also…

Check out Ben Ford’s Lake Ontario project. His latest entry talks about probing for a War of 1812 gunboat. You can access Ben’s post from our home page at:

http://www.uri.edu/mua

What Can Art Teach Us About Maritime History and Ship Construction?

Japanese maritime historian and underwater archaeologist Michelle Damian continues her online journal detailing the research and writing of her MA thesis on Japanese wooden boats as depicted in woodblock prints. After completing her first year of PhD studies she is taking the summer to dive back into writing her MA thesis. Her new post shares some of what she has learned over the last year giving readers another peek at how future maritime historians and underwater archaeologists are trained. To view her new post click entry number 8 “Returning” in the left menu. http://www.uri.edu/artsci/his/mua/project_journals/aj/aj_intro.shtml

Also new on the site…

Amer Kahn of Flinders university wraps up his post on training underwater archaeologists in Sri Lanka. Amer worked with UNESCO to train future trainers in that regions efforts to preserve there submerged cultural resources. Select “Final Update” in the left menu to see the wrap up entry here: http://www.uri.edu/artsci/his/mua/project_journals/un/un_intro.shtml

The MUA is proud to spread the word about the important work done in an area of the world that has received little attention in the west.

Up Next…

New projects, training videos for the MUA school kits, and updates from around the world all coming soon. It’s going to be a busy summer.

Best regards,

T Kurt Knoerl
Director
The Museum of Underwater Archaeology

`Jones’: Real archaeologists don’t have whips

Well, most don’t anyway. I’m not saying I have one mind you, at least not publicly. Anyway here’s a link to the article…

Click here.

Ohio Launches Shipwreck Website

On the bottom of Lake Erie lie tales of drama, history and commerce. Now the state is bringing these shipwreck stories to the surface in an effort to attract divers and educate the masses.

The state just launched a Web site, www. ohioshipwrecks.org, that details 28 of the 277 known shipwrecks in Lake Erie.

Read the article…

Flinders University Offers Practicum in St. Augustine, Florida

Flinders University in Australia will be offering an underwater archaeology practicum in St. Augustine, FL from June 30th to July 18th. This course will be hosted in partnership with the Lighthouse Archaeology and Maritime Program. Don’t miss this opportunity to work with a great bunch of instructors in a fantastic setting. See their announcement for enrollment options here.

The 2008 North East Florida Symposium on Maritime Archaeology

The second Annual Northeast Florida Symposium on Maritime Archaeology, sponsored by the Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program (LAMP) and the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve (GTM-NERR), will be held in St. Augustine, Florida from March 12th through the 15th, 2008. The Symposium includes three days of presentations by invited speakers covering a host of topics including prehistoric underwater archaeology, conservation of artifacts from underwater sites, the archaeology of shipwreck sites in Florida and around the world, management of submerged cultural resources, and graduate student archaeological research projects.

Read more… 

In the News

Storms, shifting sands give Oregon new look at history

PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) — The storms that have lashed Oregon’s scenic coast this winter have dredged up an unusual array of secrets: old shipwrecks, historic cannons, ghost forests — even strangely shaped iron deposits.  Read more…

Good Morning America Highlights Looters

The following news segment was a headline on Yahoo.com this morning:

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=6482851&=4226714&src=news=4226714&src=news

It shows an ABC anchor diving with the treasure hunters, including
using a scooter to blow away sand from a potential find. If you
watch the clip, you will hear archaeologists being dismissed
derisively at the end of the interview, with the treasure hunter
adding that he has “never yet seen an archaeologist without having an
incredible collection in his basement.” It is also insinuated that
treasure hunters are the only ones willing to spend the money to go
find these sites.

I don’t know about all of you, but I have no “collection” to boast
of. And if the public, ethically committed institutions that I am
affiliated with would have access to funding like privately owned
corporations do, I am sure we would be more than happy to record
those sites as well.

I have emailed ABC to express my displeasure that such activities
are being spotlighted and have suggested that if they’re going to do
so, that archaeologists should at least be given equal time to
present our side, not simply be summarily dismissed. I encourage
everyone who sees this to do the same as well. The feedback page for
this clip can be found here:

http://abcnews.go.com/Site/page?id=3271346&cat=Good%20Morning%20America

Thanks for reading.

Michelle Damian
MUA Exhibits Editor.