Underwater archaeology - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Underwater archaeology is archaeology practised 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 been a relatively late development due to the difficulties of accessing and working underwater sites, and because the application of archaeology to underwater sites initially emerged from the skills and tools developed by shipwreck salvagers. As a result underwater archaeology initially struggled to establish itself as bona fide archaeological research. The situation changed when universities began teaching the subject and when a theoretical and practical base for the sub-discipline was firmly established. Underwater Archaeology now has a number of branches including, after it became broadly accepted in the late 1980s maritime archaeology

Maritime archaeology

Maritime archaeology is a discipline within archaeology as a whole that specifically studies human interaction with the sea, lakes and rivers through the study of associated physical remains, be they vessels, shore side facilities, port-related structures, cargoes, human remains and submerged...

: the scientifically based study of past human

Human

Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...

life, behaviours and cultures and their activities in, on, around and (lately) under the sea, estuaries and rivers. This is most often effected using the physical remains found in, around or under salt or fresh water

Fresh Water

Fresh Water is the debut album by Australian rock and blues singer Alison McCallum, released in 1972. Rare for an Australian artist at the time, it came in a gatefold sleeve...

or buried beneath water-logged sediment

Sediment

Sediment is naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of fluids such as wind, water, or ice, and/or by the force of gravity acting on the particle itself....

. In recent years the study of submerged WWII sites and of submerged aircraft in the form of underwater aviation archaeology

Aviation archaeology

Aviation archaeology is a recognized sub-discipline within archaeology and underwater archaeology as a whole. It is an activity practiced by both enthusiasts and academics in pursuit of finding, documenting, recovering, and preserving sites important in aviation history...

have also emerged as bona fide activity.

Though often mistaken as such, underwater archaeology is not restricted to the study of shipwrecks. Changes in sea-level, because of local seismic events, such as the earthquakes that devastated Port Royal

Port Royal

Port Royal was a city located at the end of the Palisadoes at the mouth of the Kingston Harbour, in southeastern Jamaica. Founded in 1518, it was the centre of shipping commerce in the Caribbean Sea during the latter half of the 17th century...

and Alexandria

Alexandria

Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...

, or more widespread climatic or changes on a continent

Continent

A continent is one of several very large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents—they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.Plate tectonics is...

al scale mean that some sites of human occupation that were once on dry land are now submerged. At the end of the last ice age the North Sea

North Sea

In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...

was a great plain, and anthropological material, as well as the remains of animals such as mammoth

Mammoth

A mammoth is any species of the extinct genus Mammuthus. These proboscideans are members of Elephantidae, the family of elephants and mammoths, and close relatives of modern elephants. They were often equipped with long curved tusks and, in northern species, a covering of long hair...

s are sometimes recovered by trawlers. Also, because human societies have always made use of water, sometimes the remains of structures that these societies built underwater still exist (such as the foundations of crannogs, bridges and harbours) when traces on dry land have been lost. As a result, underwater archaeological sites can include a vast range including: submerged indigenous sites and places where people once lived or visited, that have been subsequently covered by water due to rising sea level

Sea level

Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...

s; wells, cenotes, wrecks (shipwrecks; aircraft

Aircraft

An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...

); the remains of structures created in water (such as crannogs, bridge

Bridge

A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...

s or harbours); other port-related structures; refuse or debris

Debris

Debris is rubble, wreckage, ruins, litter and discarded garbage/refuse/trash, scattered remains of something destroyed, or, in geology, large rock fragments left by a melting glacier etc. The singular form of debris is debris...

sites where people disposed of their waste

Waste

Waste is unwanted or useless materials. In biology, waste is any of the many unwanted substances or toxins that are expelled from living organisms, metabolic waste; such as urea, sweat or feces. Litter is waste which has been disposed of improperly...

, garbage and other items such as ships, aircraft, munitions and machinery, by dumping into the water.

Underwater archaeology is often complementary to archaeological research on terrestrial sites because often the two are linked by many and various elements including geographic, social, political, economic and other considerations. As a result a study of an archaeological landscape can involve a multidisciplinary approach requiring the inclusion of many specialists from a variety of disciplines including prehistory, historical archaeology, maritime archaeology, anthropology. There are many examples. One is the wreck of the VOC ship Zuytdorp

Zuytdorp

The VOC Zuytdorp also Zuiddorp was a trading ship of the Dutch East India Company in the 18th century. On 1 August 1711 it was dispatched from the Netherlands to the trading port of Batavia bearing a load of freshly minted silver coins.Many trading ships of the time had started to use a "fast...

lost in 1711 on the coast of Western Australia and where there remains considerable speculation that some of the crew survived and after establishing themselves on shore intermixed with Indigenous tribes from the area. The archaeological signature at this site also now extends into the interaction between indigenous people and the European pastoralists who entered the area in the mid 19th century.

Reasons

There are many reasons why underwater archaeology can make a significant contribution to our knowledge of the past. In the shipwreck field alone individual shipwreck

Shipwreck

A shipwreck is what remains of a ship that has wrecked, either sunk or beached. Whatever the cause, a sunken ship or a wrecked ship is a physical example of the event: this explains why the two concepts are often overlapping in English....

s can be of significant historical importance either because of the magnitude of loss of life (such as the Titanic), or circumstances of loss (Housatonic
USS Housatonic (1861)
The first USS Housatonic was a screw sloop-of-war of the United States Navy, named for the Housatonic River of New England which rises in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, and flows southward into Connecticut before emptying into Long Island Sound a little east of Bridgeport, Connecticut...

was the first vessel in history sunk by an enemy submarine). Shipwrecks, such as The Mary Rose, can also be important for archaeology because they can form a kind of accidental time capsule

Time capsule

A time capsule is an historic cache of goods or information, usually intended as a method of communication with future people and to help future archaeologists, anthropologists, or historians...

, preserving an assemblage of human artifacts

Artifact (archaeology)

An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...

at the moment in time when the ship was lost.

Sometimes it is not the wrecking of the ship that is important, but the fact that we have access to the remains of it, especially where the vessel was of major importance and significance in the history of science and engineering (or warfare), due to being the first of its type of vessel. The development of submarines, for example, can be traced via underwater archaeological research, via the Hunley
H. L. Hunley (submarine)
H. L. Hunley was a submarine of the Confederate States of America that played a small part in the American Civil War, but a large role in the history of naval warfare. The Hunley demonstrated both the advantages and the dangers of undersea warfare...

which was the first submarine to sink an enemy ship (Hunley also had unique construction details not found in previous vessels and was one of the only historic warships ever raised intact), the Resurgam II

Resurgam

Resurgam is the name given to two early Victorian submarines designed and built by Reverend George Garrett as a weapon to penetrate the chain netting placed around ship hulls to defend against attack by torpedo vessels....

, the first powered submarine, and Holland 5

Holland 5

Holland 5 was the last of the five Holland-class submarines ordered by the British Admiralty to evaluate the potential of the submarine with the Royal Navy...

, which provides insight into the development of submarines in the British Navy.

Challenges

Underwater sites are inevitably difficult to access, and more hazardous, compared with working on dry land. In order to access the site directly, diving equipment

Diving equipment

Diving equipment is equipment used by underwater divers for the purpose of facilitating diving activities. This may be equipment primarily intended for this purpose, or equipment intended for other puprposes which is found to be suitable for diving use....

and diving skills

Diver training

Diver training is the process of developing skills and building experience in the use of diving equipment and techniques so that the diver is able to dive safely and have fun....

are necessary. The depths that can be accessed by divers

Scuba diving

Scuba diving is a form of underwater diving in which a diver uses a scuba set to breathe underwater....

, and the length of time available at depths, are limited. For deep sites beyond the reach of divers, submarines or remote sensing

Remote sensing

Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an object or phenomenon, without making physical contact with the object. In modern usage, the term generally refers to the use of aerial sensor technologies to detect and classify objects on Earth by means of propagated signals Remote sensing...

equipment are needed.

For a marine site, while some form of working platform (typically a boat

Boat

A boat is a watercraft of any size designed to float or plane, to provide passage across water. Usually this water will be inland or in protected coastal areas. However, boats such as the whaleboat were designed to be operated from a ship in an offshore environment. In naval terms, a boat is a...

or ship

Ship

Since the end of the age of sail a ship has been any large buoyant marine vessel. Ships are generally distinguished from boats based on size and cargo or passenger capacity. Ships are used on lakes, seas, and rivers for a variety of activities, such as the transport of people or goods, fishing,...

) is often needed, shore-based activities are common. notwithstanding, all creates logistics

Logistics

Logistics is the management of the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of destination in order to meet the requirements of customers or corporations. Logistics involves the integration of information, transportation, inventory, warehousing, material handling, and packaging, and...

problems. A working platform for underwater archeology needs to be equipped to provide for the delivery of air for example, recompression and medical facilities, or specialist remote sensing equipment, analysis of archaeological results, support for activities being undertaken in the water, storage of supplies, facilities for conservation for any items recovered from the water, as well as accommodation for workers. Equipment used for archaeological investigation, including water dredge and air lifts create additional hazards

Safety

Safety is the state of being "safe" , the condition of being protected against physical, social, spiritual, financial, political, emotional, occupational, psychological, educational or other types or consequences of failure, damage, error, accidents, harm or any other event which could be...

and logistics issues. Moreover, marine sites may be subject to strong tidal flows or poor weather which mean that the site is only accessible for a limited amount of time. Some marine creatures also pose a threat to diver safety.

Underwater sites are often dynamic, that is they are subject to movement by currents

Ocean current

An ocean current is a continuous, directed movement of ocean water generated by the forces acting upon this mean flow, such as breaking waves, wind, Coriolis effect, cabbeling, temperature and salinity differences and tides caused by the gravitational pull of the Moon and the Sun...

, surf

Ocean surface wave

In fluid dynamics, wind waves or, more precisely, wind-generated waves are surface waves that occur on the free surface of oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, and canals or even on small puddles and ponds. They usually result from the wind blowing over a vast enough stretch of fluid surface. Waves in the...

, storm

Storm

A storm is any disturbed state of an astronomical body's atmosphere, especially affecting its surface, and strongly implying severe weather...

damage or tidal flows. Structures may be unexpectedly uncovered, or buried beneath sediments. Over time, exposed structures will be eroded, broken up and scattered. The dynamic nature of the environment may make in-situ conservation

In-situ conservation

In-situ conservation is on-site conservation or the conservation of genetic resources in natural populations of plant or animal species, such as forest genetic resources in natural populations of tree species...

infeasible, especially as exposed organics, such as the wood of a shipwreck, are likely to be consumed by marine organisms such as piddocks. In addition, underwater sites can be chemically active, with the result that iron can be leached from metal structures to form concretions. The original metal will then be left in a fragile state. Artifacts

Artifact (archaeology)

An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...

recovered from underwater sites need special care.

Visibility

Visibility

In meteorology, visibility is a measure of the distance at which an object or light can be clearly discerned. It is reported within surface weather observations and METAR code either in meters or statute miles, depending upon the country. Visibility affects all forms of traffic: roads, sailing...

may be poor, because of sediments or algae

Algae

Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelps that grow to 65 meters in length. They are photosynthetic like plants, and "simple" because their tissues are not organized into the many...

in the water and lack of light penetration. This means that survey techniques that work well on land (such as triangulation), generally can not be used effectively under water.

In addition it can be difficult to allow access to the results of the archaeological research as underwater sites do not provide good outreach possibilities or access for the general public. Work has been done to bridge this difficulty with the advent of the WWW and direct streaming of projects. Another example is the excavation of the Queen Anne's Revenge
Queen Anne's Revenge
Queen Anne's Revenge was the name of English pirate Blackbeard's flagship, used by him for less than a year, but an effective tool in his prize taking....

.

Techniques

Although specialised techniques and tools have been developed to address the challenges of working under water, the archaeological goals and process are essentially the same as in any other context. Investigating an underwater site however, is likely to take longer and be more costly than an equivalent terrestrial one.

An important aspect of project design is likely to be managing the logistics

Logistics

of operating from a boat and of managing diving operations. The depth of water over the site, and whether access is constrained by tides, currents and adverse weather conditions will create substantial constraints on the techniques that can feasibly be used and the amount of investigation that can be carried out for a given cost or in a set timescale. Many of the most carefully investigated sites, including the Mary Rose have relied substantially on avocational archaeologists working over a considerable period of time.

As with archaeology on land, some techniques are essentially manual, using simple equipment (generally relying on the efforts of one or more scuba divers), while others use advanced technology and more complex logistics (for example requiring a large support vessel, with equipment handling cranes, underwater communication and computer visualisation).

Position Fixing

Knowing the location of an archaeological site is fundamental to being able to study it. In the open sea there are no landmarks, so position fixing

Position fixing

Position fixing is the branch of navigation concerned with the use of a variety of visual and electronic methods to determine the position of a ship, aircraft or person on the surface of the Earth.These techniques include:...

is generally achieved using GPS. Historically, sites within sight of the shore would have been located using transects

Navigational transit

In navigation and position fixing, a transit occurs when a navigator observes two fixed reference points that are in line with the navigator. This creates a position line...

. A site may also be located by visually surveying

Position fixing

some form of marker (such as a buoy

Buoy

A buoy is a floating device that can have many different purposes. It can be anchored or allowed to drift. The word, of Old French or Middle Dutch origin, is now most commonly in UK English, although some orthoepists have traditionally prescribed the pronunciation...

) from two known (mapped) points on land. The depth of water at a site can be determined from charts or by using the depth sounding sonar equipment that is standard equipment on ships. Such sonar can often be used to locate an upstanding structure, such as a shipwreck, once GPS has placed the research vessel in approximately the right location.

Site Survey

The type of survey required depends on the information that is needed to resolve archaeological questions, but most sites will need at least some form of topographical survey and a site plan showing the locations of artifacts and other archaeological material, where samples were taken and where different types of archaeological investigation were carried out. Environmental assessment of archaeological sites will also require that environmental conditions (water chemistry, dynamic properties) as well as the natural organisms present on the site are recorded. For shipwrecks, particularly post-industrial age shipwrecks, pollution threats from wreck material may need to be investigated and recorded.

The simplest approach to survey is to carry out three dimensional surveying

Surveying

See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...

by divers using depth gauge

Depth gauge

A depth gauge is a pressure gauge that displays the equivalent depth in water. It is a piece of diving equipment often used by SCUBA divers.Most modern diving depth gauges have an electronic mechanism and digital display. Older types used a mechanical mechanism and analogue display.A diver uses a...

s and tape measure

Tape measure

A tape measure or measuring tape is a flexible form of ruler. It consists of a ribbon of cloth, plastic, fiber glass, or metal strip with linear-measurement markings. It is a common measuring tool. Its flexibility allows for a measure of great length to be easily carried in pocket or toolkit and...

ments. Research shows that such measurements are typically less accurate than similar surveys on land. Where it is not practical or safe for divers to physically visit a site, Remotely Operated Vehicle

Remotely operated vehicle

A remotely operated vehicle is a tethered underwater vehicle. They are common in deepwater industries such as offshore hydrocarbon extraction. An ROV may sometimes be called a remotely operated underwater vehicle to distinguish it from remote control vehicles operating on land or in the air. ROVs...

s (ROVs) enable observation and intervention with control by personnel located at the surface. The low technology approach of measuring using tape measures and depth gauges can be replaced with a more accurate and quicker high technology approach using acoustic positioning.

Remote sensing

Remote sensing

or Marine Geophysics is generally carried out using equipment towed from a vessel on the surface and therefore does not require any one, or any equipment to actually penetrate to the full depth of the site. Sensitive sonar

Sonar

Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...

, especially side-scan sonar

Side-scan sonar

Side-scan sonar is a category of sonar system that is used to efficiently create an image of large areas of the sea floor...

or multi-beam sonar may be used to image an underwater site. Magnetometry

Magnetometer

A magnetometer is a measuring instrument used to measure the strength or direction of a magnetic field either produced in the laboratory or existing in nature...

can be used to locate metal remains such as metal shipwrecks, anchors and cannon

Cannon

A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...

. Sub-bottom profiling utilizes sonar to detect structures buried beneath sediment.

Recording

A variety of techniques are available to divers to record findings underwater. Scale drawing is the basic tool of archaeology and can be undertaken underwater. Pencils will write underwater on permatrace, plastic dive slates

Slate (writing)

A writing slate is a piece of flat material used as a medium for writing.In the 19th century, writing slates were made of slate, which is more durable than paper and was cheap at the time when paper was expensive. It was used to allow children to practice writing...

, or matt laminated paper.

Photography

Photography

Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...

is the mainstay of recording, and with the advent of digital cameras is cheap and convenient. For underwater use, cameras, including video cameras can be provided with special housings that enables them to be used underwater. Low visibility underwater and distortion of image due to refraction mean that perspective photographs can be difficult to obtain. However, it is possible to take a series of photographs at adjacent points and then combined into a single photomontage or photomosaic

Photomontage

Photomontage is the process and result of making a composite photograph by cutting and joining a number of other photographs. The composite picture was sometimes photographed so that the final image is converted back into a seamless photographic print. A similar method, although one that does not...

image of the whole site.

Excavation

Where intrusive underwater excavation is appropriate, silts and sediments can be removed from an area of investigation using a water dredge or airlift

Airlift (dredging device)

An Airlift is device based on a pipe, used in nautical archaeology to suck small objects, sand and mud from the sea bed and to transport the resulting debris upwards and away from its source. It is sometimes called a suction dredge...

. When used correctly, these devices have an additional benefit in tending to improve the visibility in the immediate vicinity of the investigation. It is also important to note that for very deep sea excavation submarines are sometimes used to view sites. Underwater photography can also be conducted from these submarines which assists the recording process.

Archaeological science

A variety of archaeological science

Archaeological science

Archaeological science, also known as archaeometry, consists of the application of scientific techniques to the analysis of archaeological materials. Archaeometry is now considered its own scientific field. The UK's Natural and Environmental Research Council provides funding for archaeometry...

s are used in underwater archaeology. Dendrochronology

Dendrochronology

Dendrochronology or tree-ring dating is the scientific method of dating based on the analysis of patterns of tree-rings. Dendrochronology can date the time at which tree rings were formed, in many types of wood, to the exact calendar year...

is an important technique especially for dating the timbers of wooden ships. It may also provide additional information, including the area where the timber was harvested (i.e. likely to be where the ship was built) and whether or not there are later repairs or reuse of salvaged materials. Because plant and animal material can be preserved underwater, archaeobotany and archaeozoology have roles in underwater archaeology. For example, for submerged terrestrial sites or inland water, identification of pollen

Pollen

Pollen is a fine to coarse powder containing the microgametophytes of seed plants, which produce the male gametes . Pollen grains have a hard coat that protects the sperm cells during the process of their movement from the stamens to the pistil of flowering plants or from the male cone to the...

samples from sedimentary or silt layers can provide information on the plants growing on surrounding land and hence on the nature of the landscape. Information about metal artifacts can be obtained through X-ray

X-ray

X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...

of concretions. Geology

Geology

Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...

can provide insight into how the site evolved, including changes in sea-level, erosion

Erosion

Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...

by rivers and deposition by rivers or in the sea.

Artifact recovery and conservation

Artifacts

Artifact (archaeology)

An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...

recovered from underwater sites need stabilization to manage the process of removal of water and conservation. The artifact either needs to be dried carefully, or the water replaced with some inert medium (as in the case of The Mary Rose). Artifacts recovered from salt water, particularly metals and glass

Glass

Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...

need be stabilized following absorption of salt or leaching of metals. In-situ conservation of underwater structures is possible, but consideration needs to be given to the dynamic nature of the site. Changes to the site during intrusive investigation or removal of artifacts may result in scouring which exposes the site to further deterioration.

Interpretation and presentation of underwater archaeology

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 Otherwise presentation will typically rely on publication (book or journal

Academic journal

An academic journal is a peer-reviewed periodical in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as forums for the introduction and presentation for scrutiny of new research, and the critique of existing research...

articles, web-sites and electronic media such as CD-ROM). Television programmes can attempt to provide an understanding of underwater archaeology to a broad audience.

Publications

Publication is an essential part of the archaeological process and is particularly crucial for underwater archaeology, where sites are generally not accessible and it is often the case that sites are not preserved in-situ.

The specialist journals on maritime archaeology

Maritime archaeology

, which include the long established International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, The Bulletin of The Australasian Institute for Maritime Archaeology (AIMA) and the recently launched Journal of Maritime Archaeology publish articles about maritime archaeological research and under water archaeology. However, research on underwater sites can also be published in mainstream archaeological journals, or thematic archaeological journals. Some institutions also make their unpublished reports, often called 'Grey Literature', accessible thereby allowing access to far more detail and a wider range of archaeological data than is otherwise the case with books and journals. An example is the works of the Department of Maritime Archaeology at the Western Australian Museum

Western Australian Museum

The Western Australian Museum is the state museum for Western Australia.The Western Australian Museum has seven main sites: two in Perth within the Perth Cultural Centre, two in Fremantle , and one each in Albany, Geraldton, and Kalgoorlie-Boulder...

.

The public interest market is covered by a number of diving, shipwreck and underwater archaeology books, beginning with the works of Jacques Cousteau.

The techniques of underwater archaeology are also documented in published works, including a number of handbooks, and Muckelroy

Keith Muckelroy

Keith Muckelroy was a pioneer of maritime archaeology. In 1976 he published a paper in which he proposed a theory for the formation of shipwreck sites. He later expanded this theory in a book...

's classic work on Maritime Archaeology.

External links

RPM Nautical Foundation
Institute of Maritime History
Institute of Nautical Archaeology
Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program (LAMP), St. Augustine, Florida
Centre for Historical and Maritime Archaeology, University of Bristol
Centre for Maritime Archaeology University of Southampton
Centre for Maritime Archaeology, University of Ulster, Coleraine
Capitalism versus Socialism in Underwater Archaeology by E. Lee Spence
E. Lee Spence
Edward Lee Spence is a pioneer in underwater archaeology who studies shipwrecks and sunken treasure. He is also a published editor and author of non-fiction reference books; a magazine editor , and magazine publisher ; and a...
A Code of Ethics for Maritime Archaeologists by Australian AIMA
East Carolina University Maritime Studies
Flinders University Maritime Archaeology Program
Maritime Archeology in Israel
The Museum of Underwater Archaeology (MUA)
National Park Service Submerged Resources Center
Nordic Underwater Archaeology
Resources for maritime archaeologists
"Shipwrecks" in Stillwell, Richard, William L. MacDonald, Marian Holland McAllister, eds. Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, 1976, Includes alphabetized list of known wreck sites from Classical Antiquity.
Submerged Cultural Resources Laws from National Park Service Archeology Program
Submerged Landscapes Archaeological Network
University of Southern Denmark Maritime Archaeology Program

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Reasons

Challenges

Techniques

Position Fixing

Site Survey

Recording

Excavation

Archaeological science

Artifact recovery and conservation

Interpretation and presentation of underwater archaeology

Publications

See also

External links