‘Where there’s Muck there’s Brass’: Archaeology and the Real World? – By Dr. Joe Flatman

There is nothing like a recession to get everyone thinking about value– what people value in terms of personal as well as professional ethics, and more cynically about how they themselves are valued, how much their jobs are ‘worth’ both socially and economically. Issues like this are especially important to archaeologists– or at least they should be if we are to genuinely lay claim to Mortimer Wheeler’s maxim that ‘archaeologists are digging up, not things, but people’. Identifying the tangible benefits to society of archaeology is difficult at the best of times but especially so when finances are pinched; to paraphrase from the macroeconomic term, we do not produce either guns or butter, so what is the value of our contribution? How does archaeology ‘work’ in the ‘real world’ of profit and loss?

Divers hope to identify 1812 warship in Lake Ontario

Dave Howe  of IMH provided us with a link to an interesting article on plans for a survey of what may be HMS Wolfe.

From The Province:

“A team of divers is set to plunge into Lake Ontario near Kingston, Ont., next week in a bid to confirm the discovery of a legendary Canadian-built ship from the War of 1812, the HMS Wolfe.”

You can view the full article here:

http://www.theprovince.com/Life/Divers+hope+identify+1812+warship+Lake+Ontario/1683034/story.html

Students Excavate Sixteenth-Century Shipwreck Site in Florida

University of West Florida students return to EP II 16th century shipwreck site.

The University of West Florida has begun its online project journal for summer 2009.

Co-Principal Investigator Greg Cook leads off with an entry on what students will be learning. From remote sensing to excavating a sixteenth-century shipwreck site it promises to be an exciting season.

You can view Greg’s post as well as the first student entry here:

http://www.uri.edu/artsci/his/mua/project_journals/wf09/wf09_intro.shtml

Check back later this week for entry number three.

The Warship Hazardous Tracer Study

Today we present the third part of Sarah Holland’s study on how the dynamic nature of the natural environment found at the warship Hazardous shipwreck site may have moved artifacts across the seabed during a single season. You can read Sarah’s post by clicking on the link on our main page here: http://www.themua.org

Sidescan Sonar Technology Helps Researchers Locate 1837 Shipwreck in Lake Erie

The Cleveland Underwater Explorers (CLUE) have posted sidescan sonar images they used to find the historic shipwreck of the steamship Anthony Wayne in 50 feet of water in Lake Erie. CLUE had a busy year and has posted about their discoveries. You’ll find a link to their page under the NEW Entries section at the top of the MUA Home Page.

http://www.uri.edu/mua

Also…

The popular World War Two Saipan Beach Invasion Project Journal is almost complete. View the most recent entries with underwater video and photos of submerged landing craft, tanks, sub chasers, and air planes here:

http://www.uri.edu/artsci/his/mua/project_journals/saipan/saipan_intro.shtml

Want to contribute?

The MUA is seeking exhibits editors for Europe, South America, and Africa. If you’re in touch with underwater archaeologists in those areas and would like to help them share their research with the public and numerous schools online send us an email.

Underwater Archaeology of World War 2 Invasion Beaches in Saipan

On June 15, 1944 US Marines stormed ashore beginning the Battle for Saipan. World War II tanks, landing craft, barges, ships, and material litters the waters. Today the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands on the Island of Saipan has brought in underwater archaeologists Jason Burns and Michael Krivor to inventory their submerged cultural resources. As part of their public outreach program Jason and Michael will post updates on how the project is proceeding.

You can read their first entry on the MUA here:
http://www.uri.edu/artsci/his/mua/project_journals/saipan/saipan_intro.shtml

Best regards,

T Kurt Knoerl

How Do You Make an Underwater Archaeologist?

Underwater archaeologist Mark Staniforth and the Museum of Underwater Archaeology are pleased to announce the 2008 Flinders University Field School Project Journal. Follow along as a new international group of students start their underwater training in Australia. Project journals such as this offer the public the opportunity to see how future underwater archaeologists learn the skills necessary to explore, record, preserve, and learn from submerged cultural resources.

You can view the journal here:

http://www.uri.edu/artsci/his/mua/project_journals/flinders08/flinders08_intro.shtml

We hope you enjoy this latest addition to the Museum of Underwater Archaeology.

A New Year, A New Post, A New Home Page at the MUA

Happy New Year to all!  We’d like to start the New Year off right with a new post to the MUA and an entirely new home page (see link below).  The latest version incorporates several new features including optional navigation methods.  You can now browse the site by the traditional post type, i.e. Exhibits, Project Journals, and In The Fields or you can use the map and pan across the earth to see where our projects are taking place.  A third option allows you to filter the posts by content.  Explore and see what works best for you.

We are also extremely pleased to bring you our first post from the UK.  University of Southampton graduate student Sarah Holland has posted an introduction to her work with artefact distribution and site formation processes.  Sarah will provide updates to this project in the next few months.

We would also like to announce the start of a new web tool for finding websites related to underwater archaeological projects.  We have created a second Google map entitled the Worldwide Site Map.  Viewers can pan across the earth to find underwater archaeological projects (in addition to those posted on the MUA) that have an associated website.  Each anchor represents the project location and provides a link back to the researcher’s website.  We will be adding new sites to this as fast as we can.  If your underwater project has an associated website and you’d like it to be included feel free to email us the link and we’ll add it to the map (All submissions must adhere to the Society for Historical Archaeology’s code of ethics).  This promises to be a great resource for students and the general public.

We hope you enjoy this latest upgrade to the Museum of Underwater Archaeology.  We’d like to thank you for a great 2007 and offer you our best wishes for a happy and safe 2008.

http://www.uri.edu/mua

Best regards,

T Kurt Knoerl
Director
The Museum of Underwater Archaeology

In the News

The MUA is consolidating its News page with this blog. Be sure to check back for recent posts under the News category.

Our thanks go to The Maritime Archaeological and Historical Society, Dr. Randolph Scully, and Michelle Damian for passing these links on to us.

Here’s the latest:

12/13/2007
Captain Kidd Ship Found
Indiana University Press Release

12/12/2007
ECU Maritime Program Students Travel To Stockholm, Sweden

12/4/2007
Self-taught ship archaeologist Steffy dies

12/2/2007
Rich shipwreck mired in legal tangle
Charting Spain’s sunken treasures

11/30/2007
Web site puts Annapolis’ past at your fingertips

In the News (archive)

Welcome to the New home of the MUA News Page.

If you spot a news story related to underwater archaeology feel free to let us know by sending the URL to mua@keimaps.com.

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11/18/2007World War 2 Ship Sunk to Create Reef