The Cattewater Wreck Licensee's Report 2013 (original) (raw)

A Followup Field Survey Lost Grave Sites: Cataraqui Shipwreck, King Island Tasmania

I am not quite sure how i became involved in this project but have put the report up as it does not seem to be in any other repository. The Final Report, was an investigation into the re-establishment of the location of the main grave site of the victims of the wreck of the Cataraqui off the west coast of King Island in 1845 (Australia's worst maritime disaster). The victim's grave sites been lost over time, bur the originally 'fenced' main gave was, lost as well. In the Final Report the case was put foreword that perhaps the wreck should not have occurred in the first place, being the ironic victim of the economy and technology at that period of rapid change in the early nineteenth century. The early part of the final report looked to describing the setting and circumstances by which the Cataraqui and its passengers were to come to grief in such a horrible manner. It then went on to describe the historical evidence and existing evidence that led to the findings. The report describes the use and function of remote sensing and geophysical prospecting as a tool !o archaeological investigation, using dead reckoning in the first instance, and then the application of electronic instruments, the magnetometer, gradiometre, and resisitivity meter for investigating the potential presence of sub surface anomalies, namely the mass grave of some two hundred six individuals. The intention of this surrey was to extend the findings from the recon to a site specific location and there, through test bores, determine if there was. in fact. a grave at that position. It was also our intention not to excavate or exhume any of the victims if thee burial site was confirmed but to only establish. within reasonable certainty, the existence and location of the main grave. This survey exercise is specifically undertaken to support. with evidence d documentation, a tangible location in preparation for a memorial and celebration of the l50rh anniversary of the event of the disaster. to be held in 1995.

Revisiting the Mellieħa Bay Wreck: A report on two seasons of survey and excavation (2013-2014)

Malta Archaeological Review, 2021

The Mellieħa Bay wreck is a third-century AD Roman shipwreck located in a bay on the northern coast of the island of Malta (Fig. 1). Recent excavations of the site were carried in 2013 and 2014 as part of 2 three-week underwater field schools, organised by the Department of Classics and Archaeology at the University of Malta. Both seasons were supported by the Honor Frost Foundation, whose mission is to 'promote the advancement and research, including publication of marine and maritime archaeology with particular focus on the eastern Mediterranean' (The Foundation, 2020). The site of Mellieħa Bay was originally selected due to its archaeological potential, based on the preliminary investigations conducted by Honor Frost in the late 1960s. The objective of this report is to present the results of the recent investigations of the Mellieħa Bay wreck, viewed within the context of Frost's 1967 excavation and survey of the site. The wreck is located in shallow waters towards the middle of the bay, situated to the southwest of a reef. The site lies approximately 700 m from the shore, at a maximum depth of 14 m (Fig. 2). It is surrounded by large meadows of Poseidonia oceanica. This sea-grass is highly protected and grows on bedrock, sand or on mattes. From a maritime perspective, Mellieħa Bay would have been an ideal landing place, offering good anchorage during unfavourable offshore winds to vessels. However, the reef would have posed a threat to any vessel wanting to anchor closer to shore. The bathymetry of the seabed is constantly changing, as attested by the large meadows of Poseidonia oceanica within the bay. Poseidonia mattes consist of layers composed mainly of dead Poseidonia leaves and rhizome deposits of dead sea-grass. On average Poseidonia mattes increase in height by about 1cm per annum (Frost 1969, 31). The current mattes are about 4 m in height, making these approximately 400 years old. During the This report focuses on the Mellieħa Bay wreck, a third-century Roman shipwreck first investigated by Honor Frost in the late 1960s. In 2013 and 2014 field schools organised by the University of Malta with the support of the Honor Frost Foundation sought to uncover what remained of the wreck, including any material culture still present. It also sought to investigate the site formation processes. A magnetometer survey revealed the location of a number of target anomalies. It could be determined that the wreck area is highly dynamic, with the scattered nature of the finds reflecting a high-energy zone, which periodically exposed the objects on the seabed. Between 2013 and 2014 it was noted that material remains were re-deposited in the wreck area over the winter months. The growth of Poseidonia oceanica eventually stabilised the site, and the location of recovered finds at the bottom of Poseidonia mattes points towards the high potential of material evidence still located within or under the mattes, as revealed in the magnetometer survey. The recovered material culture points towards a culturally homogenous site with all objects dating to the third century AD.

Geophysical Investigations of the Cattewater Wreck 1997-2007

2010

This document describes the geophysical surveys undertaken on the site of the Cattewater wreck in the lower reaches of the Plym River, Plymouth, UK, between 1997 and 2007. The work is part of a long-term project to collect geophysical data and use it to help locate shipwrecks and other cultural remains within Plymouth Sound and its estuaries. www.3hconsulting.com

6 Shipwreck archaeology in the past 10 years

Archaeological Reports, 2023

This paper reviews the trends, topics, and research directions in shipwreck archaeology over the past decade. As archaeology increasingly embraces advances in technological methods that can aid our research, the so-called 'digital turn', it behoves maritime archaeologists, and archaeologists more broadly, to consider how collaborative utilization of specialized fields including biomolecular archaeology, geophysics, and contemporary philosophy have spurred on a rapid modernization of our field in recent times. Archaeological research, both terrestrial and underwater, has long been a collaborative discipline. However, we argue here that difficulties in working underwater have encouraged maritime and underwater archaeologists to embrace technological developments at a rapid pace. An explicit theoretical framework and the incorporation of contemporary philosophy in the field of underwater archaeology was, until recently, largely lacking in the discipline's discourse. The incorporation and advancement of adjacent disciplines within the field of underwater archaeology mark the most relevant changes within the shifting tides of shipwreck research.

1964_ Methods of Wreck Excavation in Clear Water.

Diving into the Past: Theories, Techniques, and Applications of Underwater Archaeology. Proceedings of a Conference on Underwater Archaeology Sponsored by the Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, 1963., 1964