Marine and Coastal Access Bill; Royal James; Recession Planning; The Making of America; New theory on Noah’s flood; Largest Bronze Age hoard found off Greece; New ‘archaeocast’; First underwater museum planned; Mary Rose Trust branches out; Not just there for the clubbing…

Marine and Coastal Access Bill

The House of Lords had its Second Reading debate on the Marine and Coastal Access Bill on 15 December. Baroness Hooper’s speech focussed on the historic environment.

For those not already familiar with them, the DCMS and EH web pages on heritage protection reform can be found at http://www.culture.gov.uk/what_we_do/historic_environment/5635.aspx and http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.8380 respectively.

Royal James

An organisation called Historic Wreck Recovery is searching off the Suffolk coast for the wreck of the English warship Royal James, lost in the Battle of Sole Bay in 1672.

 Recession Planning

The IfA has announced that it proposes to host a seminar on a date to be fixed to explore how it can support members and registered organisations through the current recession. In addition the IfA Council has produced a recession plan.

The Making of America

The Making of America is a digital library of primary sources in American social history with over 900,000 pages of material available online. These pages aren’t just scanned, they’re also searchable by word, like a PDF. There’s plenty of maritime material in there.

New theory on Noah’s flood

Dr Sean Kingsley has put forward the theory that a deluge that swept the Palestine region 7,000 years ago, submerging six Neolithic villages opposite the Carmel Mountains, may be the origin of the biblical flood of Noah.

Largest Bronze Age hoard found off Greece

A hoard of over 110 copper axe and hammer heads have been found in shallow water near the village of Mesi, 500 miles NE of Athens. No traces of a wreck have been found and the hoard may have been buried on a coastal plain site before rising sea levels submerged it. The find is reported to be the largest of its kind in Greece.

New ‘archaeocast’

Wessex Archaeology’s latest archaeological podcast focuses on the work of its archaeological dive team.

First underwater museum planned

UNESCO and the Egyptian government are reported to be planning to build an underwater museum to showcase the rich heritage that has been found under the Bay of Alexandria.

Mary Rose Trust branches out

MRT have helped build a Tudor play ship in a community playground in Plymouth. Their aim is to encourage children to learn about heritage as they play.

Not just there for the clubbing…

A team of local divers led by Dr Heinrich Hermanns has recovered lead bars dating from the 3^rd century B.C. from the seabed off Ibiza.

Parliamentary question; new maritime appointments; digital Victory; Princes Channel; Caird Library closure; US Naval Historical Centre news; NR-1 searches for the Bonhomme Richard; Illyrian find…

 

 

 

Parliamentary question on the UNESCO Convention

 

UK MP Andrew Smith asked the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps his Department has taken to fulfil the Government’s commitment to the principles established in the Annex to the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage. Read the holding reply here.

 

New maritime appointments at the University of Ulster

 

Rory McNeary has been appointed as Research Associate in Freshwater Archaeology and Dr. Kieran Westley as Research Associate in Maritime Archaeology at the Centre for Maritime Archaeology, University of Ulster.

 

Digital replica of HMS Victory

 

The Archaeological Research Group at Southampton University are working to create a high resolution 3D digital model of this iconic vessel.

 

Caird Library to close

 

The Caird Library at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich is to close on 20 December until late spring or early summer 2009. The temporary closure is part of the £35 million redevelopment of the museum. The redevelopment plans include providing a modern research and reading room and improved storage for paper-based collections. The library will operate a limited enquiry facility during the closure. 

 

“Historical analysis essential for naval professionals and policymakers” 

 

The US Naval Historical Centre has been renamed as the Naval History and Heritage Command to reflect its importance to the US Navy and Government.

 

The search for the Bonhomme Richard is not short of resources 

 

The US Navy submarine NR-1 was used this summer in the search for John Paul Jones’ iconic vessel. It was the mini-sub’s last mission before being deactivated.

 

World’s First Illyrian Trading Post Found 

 

See ScienceDaily (Dec. 8, 2008) for news about this new discovery by a Norwegian team in the Balkans.

 

 

Where now for maritime heritage protection? New World Heritage Sites -have your say, Scottish Marine Bill, Under the Baltic, ‘Mardi Gras shipwreck’, ‘Boyne Boat’, TAG 30, Archaeology and Art…

  

Where now for maritime heritage protection?

As you may know, Parliamentary time has not been found to take forward the Heritage Protection Bill in the current session. However, English Heritage estimates that about 70% of the changes set out in the Heritage White Paper can go ahead without the need for primary legislation. Further information can be found on the EH website.

The British Sub-Aqua Club’s response to the Draft Bill can be found on their website. 

New World Heritage Sites – have your say 

The UK Culture Secretary Andy Burnham has launched a debate on the future designation of World Heritage Sites in the UK

Scottish Marine Bill

Following on from the last post, a list of consultation responses can be accessed through the Scottish Government website.

Under the Baltic

In recent editions of the American publication ‘Archaeology’, maritime archaeologist Vello Mäss of the Estonian Maritime Museum discusses his career and his search for the Russian ironclad Russalka.

‘Mardi Gras shipwreck’

 View new video of this wreck discovered at a depth of 4000 feet in the Gulf of Mexico.

 Can you help identify the lead box?

 ‘Boyne Boat’ video

 The wreck recently excavated near Drogheda in Ireland is featured in a new RTE TV news feature.

 The same webpage links to a feature on the search for gold amongst the wreckage of the liner Laurentic.

TAG30 set to explore the ever-expanding intersection of uses of the sea and uses of the past

MAG members are reminded that there is a maritime session at the forthcoming TAG30 conference at Southampton University on 17 December. Nine papers delivered by an international cast of speakers deal with a wide range of UK and international themes and include an examination of the link between maritime heritage protection and the maintenance of the nation-state and thoughts on the construction of a ‘maritimity’ within Norwegian Archaeology.

 Art and archaeology

 The TAG30 conference also features a contemporary art exhibition, for which the following details are available. MAG members who are planning to go to the evening view should note the revised date:

 Invitation to Exhibition Evening View – ‘Visual biographies: object, art and archaeological practice’

Tuesday 16th December, 6-9pm, Main Building, Avenue Campus, University of Southampton

‘Objects, places and people have typically ‘messy’ biographies that offer points of attachment for a wide range of sensory engagements’ (Ouzman 2006: 269).

As archaeology documents artefacts and sites, it produces a form of biography, representing the life histories of individual objects and even places as the archaeologist interprets them, sometimes in just a few illustrations and documents. At the same time, it is increasingly interested in the cultural biographies of particular artefacts, the web of interactions they amass through time, movement and change; as well as the connections between individuals and biographical objects, in people’s relationships with possessions and the stories that accrue around them.

This exhibition is interested in biography and representation through object, illustration and documentation, in the relationship between the individual and material culture and individual objects and the people they encounter, and in the engagement between art, object and archaeological practice. 

Work by both artists and archaeologists will be exhibited throughout the TAG30 archaeology conference from 15-17th December 2008.

There will be an open viewing on the evening of Tuesday 16th December from 6-9pm.

 Participating artists and archaeologists include:

 Jon Adams

Gary Breeze

Judith Dobie

Rose Ferraby

Ian Kirkpatrick

Andrew Hall

Claude Heath

Helen Higgins

Carl Laubin

Jill Phillips

Peter Randall-Page

Olivia-jane Ransley

Elaine Wakefield

Aaron Watson

Marine ALSF findings published, St Anthony Protected Wreck and other news

Marine ALSF findings published

The Marine ALSF has published the findings of over £4 million of research related to marine aggregate dredging for projects undertaken during FY2007/08 (as administered by the MEPF and English Heritage).

St Anthony Protected Wreck

A finds record for this protected wreck off the Lizard in Cornwall is now available for download from the ADS site.

Draft Marine and Heritage Protection Bills – some responses

A summary of responses to the UK government’s Draft Marine Bill is available form the DEFRA website.

JNAPC’s written evidence on the Draft Heritage Protection Bill given to the Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport is also available.

The response of National Historic Ships to the draft Heritage Bill can be downloaded from their website.

Purton Hulks

Paul Barnett has written to inform MAG that he is organising regular tours of this fascinating site on the River Severn in Gloucestershire in 2009. Further details can be found in his comment on the MAG Blog (24/10/08 entry).

Liverpool Nautical Research Society

The Liverpool Nautical Research Society is celebrating its 70^th Anniversary in 2008. This respected society publishes a quarterly journal and meets on the third Thursday of each month at the Merseyside Maritime Museum. It has special access to the library and archives of the museum.

North-East Maritime Archaeology Research Archive

Tees Archaeology is hosting a maritime archaeology resource on behalf of the Nautical Archaeology Society North East.

New slave ship find

Archaeologists in the Turks and Caicos are reported to have found the wreck of a ship which carried slaves from whom many of the islands’ residents are descended.

On-line student training journal

Students from the University of West Florida Underwater Archaeology Field School have begun a new online journal to showcase their conservation efforts. 

NOAA discover wreck of a British whaler

A team from NOAA’s National Marine Sanctuaries have discovered the wreck of the 19^th century British whaling ship Gledstanes off Kure Atoll in Hawaii.

French 74 gun website

The Musée National de la Marine has produced interesting new multimedia  web content on French 74 gun ships of the line.

Artist in residence at the National Oceanography Centre

An artist in residence has been appointed at the NOC. Is it a ‘first’?

Excavating Thames Lighters

The Autumn 2008 issue of London Archaeologist reports on the excavation of five 19^th century Thames lighters at Erith

DEGUWA

MAG members are reminded that the DEGUWA conference ‘In Poseidons Reich XIV: Underwater Archaeology in Northern European Rivers and Lakes’ takes place 20-22 February 2009 in Kiel, Germany.

More Vrouw Maria

Following on from the article in the last update, members may be interested in the related post on the MACHU web site.

Also on the MACHU website is also a short article on work undertaken on the Swedish ‘Ghost’ wreck this November and on the discovery and recovery of a fine 17^th century Dutch gun from Euro Maasroute to Rotterdam.

Marine archaeology provides important evidence about Jesus?

Frank Goddio’s team working in Alexandria’s ancient harbour have announced that they have found a bowl with the inscription “DIA CHRSTOU O GOISTAIS”. This has been interpreted by as meaning “by Christ the magician” or “the magician by Christ”. Goddio is quoted by the Discovery Channel as saying “It could well be a reference to Jesus Christ, in that he was once the primary exponent of white magic”.

RMS Carpathia

A short article about the salvage of artefacts from RMS Carpathia in 2007 is available from the COMEX website.

Exploring New World Transitions

A conference on the early European exploitation of NE North America will be held from 14-20 June 2010 in St John’s, Newfoundland. The conference is being organized by the Memorial University of Newfoundland, Bournemouth University and the Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology. Coastal and maritime archaeology will be featured.

NAS ‘Adopt A Wreck’ reaches 100

The Nautical Archaeology Society’s wreck scheme chalked up its 100^th adoption earlier this year.

Also the Nautical Archaeology Society is now on Facebook. Try www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5864527737&ref=ts.

Current Archaeology latest

The December issue of Current Archaeology includes short news reports on recent investigations into the Roman and medieval harbours at Richborough, Kent and on the submerged medieval town of Dunwich.

Fenland Lighter Archive

The archive of the Fenland Lighter Project is now archived at Peterborough Library’s new Local Studies Centre.

Local Maritime Archives now online

The Exeter Local Maritime Archives Project (ELMAP) provides a searchable database of maritime and naval records across England and Wales that has gone on-line. The database is fully searchable and provides details of each item and its archive location.

Where did the timber come from?

In the November issue of The Mariner’s Mirror a researcher asks whether readers know where the timber used to build Drake’s Pelican and Revenge came from? He reports that local tradition says that it came from ‘Stake Pit’ coppice in Norwood, part of the Great North Wood which used to stretch from Croydon to SE London. Answers to the blog please.