From Brazen Archaeologist to an Institute of Study

“Since at least the Bronze Age, seafaring has been key to cultural progress. Ships are in some cases the most technologically advanced equipment a culture would develop—their space shuttles. So to really understand the ancients, you have to be able to understand how they approached the sea, and the only way to do that is to excavate shipwrecks. And those ships only sank once, so they can give you incredibly precise dates.” (Bass 2012)

It used to be that if a ship sank that the ship along with all it contained was lost forever, but advances in technology and science have allowed us to not only explore the wrecks of our early ancestors, but retrieve and preserve the valuable artifacts that aid us to better understand their culture. By practicing the scientific process of archaeological underwater excavation archaeologists are able to retrieve pieces of cultural material that provide for us, a looking glass into the past. Over the years our understanding and practices of shipwreck identification, exploration, and conservation have evolved. We will explore the revolutionary beginnings of the science of underwater archeology along with the many processes that make up the practice of shipwreck excavation including both modern and early techniques. We will also analyze the conservation techniques used to preserve the artifacts recovered from the shipwrecks, and even the wrecks themselves, as well as the many ways these techniques have evolved to address the number and variety of cultural material retrieved from the ocean.

Ambitious beginnings

While exploration of the sea is not a new science, the practice of investigating, excavating, and preserving shipwrecks is still a very new process. Ancient shipwrecks would often...

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...arlier this year when the spray was turned off and the drying process began, being held in a climate controlled building The Mary Rose will one day be open for visitors to view the ship uninhibited by blockades and mist. As for the remainder of the ship still located beneath the ocean it was covered in a geotextile material to insure its safety for exploration of generations to come.

A new field of study

With over 50 years of development, the field of underwater archeology has grown from a group of brazen archeologist who paved the way to a field thriving with a growing wealth of knowledge, tools, and resources. The establishment of many programs across the world has allowed the continued excavation and research of underwater resources. It is the hope of many archeologists that they can continue to tap into an invaluable resource giving us a look into the past.