The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology ISSN: (Print) ( Submerged prehistory in the Americas: Methods, approaches and results (original) (raw)

Archaeology underwater has experienced a renaissance in both popular and professional interest as witnessed in numerous movies, television specials, academic papers, conference symposia, and a spate of recent textbooks. For most archaeologists, as well as in the public imagination, underwater archaeology is the romantic discovery and study of shipwrecks. The best-known underwater discoveries to date have involved lost vessels and many of the techniques used for underwater exploration were designed initially for shipwreck hunting. Yet, there are fundamental differences between the study of shipwrecks and the investigation of ancient archaeological sites on now submerged landscapes. Shipwrecks pose, essentially, a historical problem. Whether we are searching for a known vessel that was lost, or attempting to identify a discovered wreck, the investigation is paradigmatically a historical one. The goal of the exercise is to link the material remains with a documentary record. Except for possibly identifying ancient shipping lanes or wreck traps, the location and character of the sea floor where the wreck is encountered is incidental.