National Heritage Protection Plan; Mooring at York, UNESCO Convention anniversary.

National Heritage Protection Plan

English Heritage is piloting using the Communities of Practice website to share information and ideas and to receive input on the National Heritage Protection Plan.

One element of the NHPP Activities for the Pleistocene and Early Holocene is the development of a new research framework for the Mesolithic period. As the first step in this process there will be an online discussion to share thoughts and ideas about researching, protecting and presenting our Mesolithic heritage. The forum will take place on the Communities of Practice site from 2-5 pm on Tuesday 18 October 2011.

Mooring at York

The opportunity has arisen to lease a mooring within the historic city of York on the River Ouse. The Council wishes to encourage use of the River within the City and diversify the range of attractions for visitors and residents. To this end the City of York Council are making available a mooring at Kings Staith for an historic vessel to be open to the public as an attraction. It is intended that the vessel will remain at the mooring and will not be used for passenger trips along the river. Contact valerie.inwood@york.gov.uk for more info.

UNESCO Convention anniversary

This year is the 10th anniversary of the UNESCO Convention on Underwater Cultural Heritage. In order to celebrate this anniversary, an international scientific colloquium on Factors Impacting Underwater Cultural Heritage will be held in Brussels on 13 and 14 December 2011. The colloquium is organised by UNESCO in close collaboration with the Universities of Leuven and Ghent and the Flemisch Heritage Institute. Further details about the colloquium (including a preliminary programme) can be found here.

Deadline for registration is 1 November 2011.

Underwater landscapes conference; Call for papers; Builders find 17-18th century shipwreck; The Neolithic of the Greater Thames Estuary’; “Finding treasure and losing history”; Did stinky seamen blow up HMS London?; Tudor Ports of London; H²Ops; Straits of Dover to be a new World Heritage Site?; Archaeology Festival 2009; The Hunley and the Alabama; Solent Basin Field Meeting; New find in Sri Lanka; Shifting sands expose more wrecks in Oregon; Protecting the Vasa; Aerial photographs; Great Lakes dispute

 

Underwater landscapes conference

CoastNet and The Wildlife Trusts are organising a conference entitled ‘Hidden worlds beneath the Waves: Engaging people with undersea landscapes’ on 25 February in Hull.

Call for papers

 A call for papers has been issued for a session of the September 2009 EAA Meeting entitled ‘Underwater archaeology and the future of submerged European Prehistory’.

 Builders find 17-18^th century shipwreck

Construction workers in Buenos Aires in Argentina are reported to have found the remains of an unidentified 17-18^th century warship under 7 metres of mud. Photographs can be viewed on the Reuters and BBC News websites.

The Neolithic of the Greater Thames Estuary

Nigel Brown will present a paper entitled ‘Sea-change – The Neolithic of the Greater Thames estuary’ at a one day conference of the Prehistoric Society entitled ‘The Neolithic of the Thames Valley: exploring regional diversity’. The conference takes place at the Society of Antiquaries in London on Saturday 7 February 2009.

“Finding treasure and losing history”

Go to Archaeology magazine’s website for an article by Zach Zorich on the co-operation between the Discovery Channel and Odyssey Marine Exploration.

Did stinky seamen blow up HMS London?

Richard Enser’s research into the Lennox has suggested a possible reason why HMS London sank in the Thames in 1685.

Tudor Ports of London

The Museum of London will be hosting a conference entitled ‘The Tudor Ports of London: An archaeological investigation’ on 16 May 2009. Attendance is free but registration is required.

The conference is the culmination of a lecture series organised to celebrate the centenary of the Port of London Authority.

H²Ops

The latest edition of  H²Ops Magazine is available to download.

Straits of Dover to be a new World Heritage Site?

A joint bid is being made by Eurotunnel and French officials to make the Straits of Dover a World Heritage Site.

Archaeology Festival 2009

Current Archaeology, Cardiff University and National Museums Wales are hosting the second ‘Archaeology Festival’ from 6-8 February in Cardiff. The draft session timetable includes a session entitled ‘Digging the docks: Britains portals to the world’.

The Hunley and the Alabama

The famous Confederate submarine and raider are back in the news.

Solent Basin Field Meeting

The Quaternary Research Association and the Prehistoric Society are organising a field meeting on the Solent Basin and West Sussex from 4-8 April 2009. Further details are available on the QRA website.

New find in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka’s Daily News is reporting the discovery and excavation of an ‘ancient ship’ off Sri Lanka.

Shifting sands expose more wrecks in Oregon

The Oregon State Archaeologist is reporting the emergence of buried shipwrecks caused by the movement of coastal sand.

Protecting the Vasa

An 18 million krona 2 year project that aims to help researchers and preservationists gain a better understanding of the extent and speed at which the various components of the ship and the preservatives used upon it are breaking down has been announced by the Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning.

Aerial photographs

English Heritage, in partnership with the Royal Commissions on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland and Wales, has acquired the Aerofilms Collection of historical air photographs. The collection of over 800 000 images is the best and most significant body of oblique aerial photography of the UK remaining in private hands.   The photographs date from 1919 to 2006.

Great Lakes Dispute 

The US Archaeology News website has reported that the state of Michigan wants the U.S. courts to dismiss a lawsuit, filed by Great Lakes Exploration, for custody of what the company claims is the wreck of a seventeenth-century vessel built by French explorer La Salle. Federal law states that shipwrecks belong to the state if the state can show that they were abandoned and embedded in the lake bottom. 

 Also in the Great Lakes a well preserved daggerboard schooner has been found on the bottom of Lake Ontario during a geophysical survey.

New UK designated wreck, Members needed for ACHWS, Heritage Bill news, Scholarship, Purton hulks

First of all I would like to notify members that  I am leaving my position as MAG Secretary to take up a position abroad. This means I will not be able to act on any emails etc. for the MAG updates or blog or other MAG issues. As my resignation is some time before the next AGM, a new Secretary will be co-opted by the committee shortly. Until then please forward any items for the updates/blog to Virginia Dellino Musgrave at vdm@hwtma.org.uk or Jesse Ransley at jesse@soton.ac.uk. The new Secretary’s details will be distributed members as soon as possible.

Many thanks to all of the MAG members who have contributed so much to the group in the last few years, these updates would not be possible without your input!

17^th century Thames wreck believed to be HMS London designated

Barbara Follett, Minister for Culture, has designated the remains of a historic 17th Century ship, believed to be the London, which sank in the Thames Estuary nearly 350 years ago. More details are available on the DCMS website.

2 members required for the Advisory Committee on Historic Wreck Sites (ACHWS)

DCMS has requested applications for interested parties to fill 2 member posts on the ACHWS, the committee set up to advise Ministers on issues related to historic wrecks. More details can be found on the DCMS website.

Government Response to Report on Draft Heritage Bill

The Government has published its response to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee’s Report on the Draft Heritage Protection Bill and Draft Cultural Property (Armed Conflicts) Bill.

Women’s Underwater Archaeology Scholarship

MAG Members may wish to apply for or pass on details for the Women Divers Hall of Fame Cecelia Connelly Memorial Scholarship for Underwater Archaeology. The scholarship is for $2500, to be used to support a woman graduate or undergraduate student, currently enrolled and in good standing, in an accredited academic program in Underwater Archaeology. Further details can be found on the Women Divers Hall of Fame website.

Other News

Members may remember MAG has previously forwarded news on the Purton Hulks. Recently the Telegraph has taken up the story following recent unsuccessful attempts to protect the site through existing heritage legislation.