Maritime Archaeology Updates

Diving Deeper with the Maritime Archaeology Trust

Chris Heal on ‘Sound of Hunger’

Our ‘Forgotten Wrecks of the First World War’ project volunteer, Chris Heal, writes about his research for the Trust and his new book Sound of Hunger.

 

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After finishing his Doctorate at Bristol University, Chris Heal began volunteering with the Maritime Archaeology Trust’s Forgotten Shipwrecks project in 2016. The start of this project would bring him down an unexpected path towards the publication of a book, Sound of Hunger.

 

Chris was asked by the Maritime Archaeology Trust to research two different wrecks (SS Broomhill and SS Minerva). He found that the two wrecks were sunk on the same day by the same U-boat, UC 61, captain Georg Gerth. He decided to keep researching.

The remains of UC 61.

Every few months, as the sands shift, the remnants of UC 61 can still be found where it stranded in fog in July of 1917 on the beach at Wissant, a few miles south west of Calais near Cap Gris Nez. The Royal Navy declared that the intelligence gain from the wreck was minimal, particularly as the crew had blown up and set fire to the vessel before surrendering. What Chris found proved this propaganda wrong. The intelligence was substantial and led to the sinking of several more U-boats.

Georg’s older brother, Erich, was also a U-boat captain who joined the Kaiserlichen Marine two years earlier than Georg. While Georg fought off the south coast of England and the west coast of France, Erich spent his short U-boat career in the Mediterranean.

 

After the war, the two brothers lived different lives, Georg was a businessman who studied philosophy and enjoyed his privacy. Erich’s life was much faster and exciting. He followed Wilhelm Canaris, chief of the Nazi intelligence service in WWII, as a spy in South America; married a widowed countess; took part in the suppression of the Communist revolution in 1919, and was involved in the murder of Lenin’s protégés Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg; covertly helped prepare the second U-boat fleet for the next war; developed close contacts from Paris with Europe’s Catholic hierarchy, even to the pope-to-be, Eugenio Pacelli, in an attempt to stop the Second World War. In the 1930s, the family fell foul of National Socialist laws to cleanse German public life of all those with Jewish connections. He was murdered by the Gestapo in front of his son in Rome in 1943. Georg died in 1970, broken after the British firebombed his home in the hospital town of Würzburg in 1944.

 

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We are very excited for Chris and his book, Sound of Hunger. We hope that you will take the time to learn more about the work he has done. Chris notes that this is ‘not a conventional history book, but a personal view of the events that were integral to the Gerth brothers, to see how they were changed by what they heard, were taught and experienced’. It is a true story about real people. ‘Sound of Hunger is unashamedly intimate in selection, perhaps eccentric in places; a personal journey that explains what was newly-found, how it was investigated and understood.’

 

Sound of Hunger was published in June this year by Unicorn Publishing to critical review. It is available from Unicorn and from many UK and US booksellers via Amazon.

 

This handsomely produced volume will be recognised as a distinctive and valuable contribution to the history of the First World War. Its author has been very careful in his research and shows both commendable levels of objectivity combined with real imaginative sympathy for his subjects in the writing. This is gripping stuff and should not disappoint its audiences. Four years into the publishing jamboree that is the War’s centenary here is a title that stands out and deserves its place on (and one hopes frequently off) the shelf.ˮ

 

A major contribution on WWI history. The author writes extremely well and his style is both lucid and engaging … Such a scholarly source book is a welcome addition to my bookshelf. An objective dispassionate foreigner’s view of the Gerth brothers’ history.ˮ

Barbican Library featuring Mike Greave’s London: An Artists Journey

There are only two more weeks left to take a trip to the Barbican Library to explore the artwork of our Artist in Residence, Mike Greaves. Mike has been volunteering with the Maritime Archaeology Trust since 2016 and has created over 50 beautiful and educational paintings for us. In June of 2014, Mike held his first successful solo exhibition entitled Rambling About London. He did not stop there! In June 2015, Mike presented a second solo exhibition of new work, entitled Revisiting Old Friends, at Southwark Cathedral. Since then he has been featured in a number of private commissions in London, Oxfordshire and Southampton.

Mike Greaves with his wife Kate and daughter Sarah.

Mike is currently presenting an exhibition at the Barbican museum, hosting a series of new ink and watercolour paintings that reflect the diversity of the extraordinary city of London- entitled London: An Artists Journey

Mike has kindly allowed the Maritime Archaeology Trust to include a small exhibition of artefacts recovered from the SS Camberwell, which hit a mine south east of the Isle of Wight in 1917 while on route from Middlesborough for London and then India with a general cargo. Seven crew members lost their lives in the sinking. The exhibition includes Mike’s rendition of the ship. Mike is also displaying paintings of the John Mitchell and the USS Jacob Jones, two other ships lost off the south coast during the First World War. When you visit the library, don’t forget to pick up our educational booklets on the USS Jacob Jones, War Graves from the First World War and Volunteering Matters, which tells of the many different ways volunteers have made the Forgotten Wrecks project possible. The artefacts on display have been loaned to us by Martin Woodward, owner of the Shipwreck Centre and Maritime Museum, Isle of Wight

SS Camberwell and associated artefacts on loan from Martin Woodward.

Don’t miss out on this exhibition! The painting are selling fast with 6 sold in the past week! To learn more about Mike Greaves work you can visit his website and can learn about other exhibitions and events happening at the Barbican 

How to get involved

You can become actively involved in the Maritime Archaeology Trust by becoming a Friend of the Trust, making a donation, or volunteering. By becoming a friend of the Maritime Archaeology Trust you will receive a membership pack, newsletters, updates direct to your inbox, a copy of the annual report and exclusive opportunities and offers as well as access to special events and activities for you and your family and most importantly, a chance to get involved in archaeological fieldwork both under water and on the foreshore. To find out more visit, http://www.maritimearchaeologytrust.org/donations

Touring Exhibitions of the First World War

With spring officially on its way it is time to announce our upcoming touring exhibitions! In the final year of our project we have two more touring exhibitions along the south coast, so make sure you don’t miss out on them! Over the past four years, the Heritage Lottery funded Forgotten Wrecks of the First World War project has had over 30 touring exhibitions across England and over 300,000 visitors! Join us to discover a fascinating exhibition which raises the profile of under-represented aspects of the Great War. This project is helping to document over 1,100 shipwrecks from the First World War along the south coast of England. You will learn about some of the ships that played a role in the conflict and sank off the south coast of England. These include largely forgotten ships and craft of all shapes and sizes that were carrying out a myriad of different tasks and activities when they were lost due to a variety of incidents. Often lives were lost due to enemy attacks, misfortunes, bad weather, communication or sheer bad luck. The exhibition includes information on the events that took place off the south coast along with some of the artefacts these shipwrecks once held. These exhibitions are an opportunity to explore history and feel a little bit of wonder.

Forgotten Wrecks exhibitions can be found at:

Littlehampton Museum in Sussex from the 28th of February to May 2018 

Teign Heritage Centre in Devon from the 15th of March to the 31st of May

With our touring exhibitions coming to an end this May, you will still be able to learn about the Forgotten Wrecks of the First World War by visiting some of our permanent seasonal exhibitions at the Shipwreck Centre & Maritime Museum and Hurst Castle. Both of these exhibitions will close in October and re-open at Easter.

Shipwreck Centre & Maritime Museum, Arreton, Isle of Wight with the grand opening on the 24th of March

Hurst Castle opening on March 31st 2018

The Maritime Archaeology Trust will be organising a longer-term Forgotten Wrecks exhibit locally in Southampton, Hampshire, with the location to be announced. These exhibitions will focus on roles the ships played in the Great War, the circumstances of their sinking, the fate of the crews, and some of the artefacts associated with the wrecks. This is a great opportunity to experience a new side of our heritage!

If you have any ideas or suggestions for where you would like to find out more about the Forgotten Wrecks of the First World War in Southampton, please let us know!

How To Get Involved

You can become actively involved in the Maritime Archaeology Trust by becoming a Friend of the Trust, making a donation, or volunteering. By becoming a friend of the Maritime Archaeology Trust you will receive a membership pack, newsletters, updates direct to your inbox, a copy of the annual report and exclusive opportunities and offers as well as access to special events and activities for you and your family and most importantly, a chance to get involved in archaeological fieldwork both under water and on the foreshore. To find out more visit our website

Fieldwork Week on the Isle of Wight

SS Mendi ship’s bell, artefact recording, free evening event at the Shipwreck Centre and much more…

This week has been a hectic one in the office – as it always is before a fieldwork week! The packing pile is growing ever higher and the plans for next week are falling into place, so far so good!

This time we are heading off to the Isle of Wight! There are loads of things going on during the week and if you would like to get involved in any of our events, please don’t hesitate to contact us on forgottenwrecks@maritimearchaeologytrust.org. We will mostly be based in the Shipwreck Centre and Maritime Museum at Arreton Barns Craft Village during the week.  We are also honored to be temporarily hosting the SS Mendi ship’s bell, and it will be on display for the public on the 25th to 29th September. The museum is open daily from 10 am to 5pm, and we also have an extra evening event on the Thursday that is definitely worth coming along for – more details below.

Artefact Recording 25th to 29th May, 10 am -4pm

In April 2017 the Trust began a huge project to digitize the fascinating collection of artefacts at the Shipwreck Centre. This will continue during the week of 25th September, so if you can spare a couple of hours at any time during the day that week, to help photograph, measure and describe the fascinating artefacts that have been recovered from wrecks off the Isle of Wight, please contact us asap at forgottenwrecks@maritimearchaeologytrust.org

3D Workshop Wednesday 27th September, 9 am to 12pm

In both maritime and terrestrial archaeology we have come into a wonderful age of highly visual digital techniques. This half day course, brought to you through the Maritime Archaeology Trust’s canoe to cannon project introduces you to the basics. This includes an overview of a range of techniques that are used in maritime archaeology and consideration of how they are being applied in the field and what the future holds. The workshop will mainly concentrate on getting you involved in collecting data and showing how you can apply these techniques, including a practical session where techniques will be applied to selected items for the Isle of Wight Shipwreck Centre’s amazing collection. The work shop is free and spaces are limited, so if you would like to join in, please contact us asap at forgottenwrecks@maritimearchaeologytrust.org

Discover the Forgotten Wrecks of the First World War, Thursday 28th September 2017, 7pm-9pm

Come along to find out more about the work of the Maritime Archaeology Trust and how you can be involved. The evening will include short presentations about the project and the work of the Trust and an opportunity to see the Shipwreck Centre’s amazing collection – including the SS Mendi ship’s bell!. Nibbles and wine will be provided. The event is free, but please let us know you are coming by booking your place here.

Fiedwork – Recording the Yaverland Battery, Friday 29th September (PM)

Yaverland Battery located at SZ 6152 8529. The battery opened in 1864. By 1902 the original rifle muzzle-loading weapons had been replaced by three 6-inch breech-loading Mk. VII guns, two of which were in use during the First World War. From 1906 it operated as an examination battery.

On Friday 29th September, MAT staff will be conducting photographic and measured survey at Yaverland Battery. If you would like to join us, please contact us asap at: grant.bettinson@maritimearchaeologytrust.org

#MuseumWeek2017: Theme of the day, TRAVEL!

Museum Week is an international online event that is running from 19th to 25th June 2017. Organised in collaboration with UNESCO, the Museum Week is a chance for heritage institutions across the world to share and talk about our passion for heritage with the public through social media. This year we are celebrating equality by dedicating the Museum Week to all women in the world.

The Maritime Archaeology Trust will be sharing with you our take on Museum Week. In collaboration with the Shipwreck Centre and Maritime Museum on the Isle of Wight we will be looking through their collections and bring you artefacts and histories that are linked in with the theme of the day.

Saturday’s theme for the week is TRAVEL!

One rupee from 1917. Source: https://www.marudhararts.com/e-shop/pid-no-6566/bank-note-of-india/british-india-notes/k-g-v-/british-india-one-rupee-note-of-king-george-v-of-1917-.html

Artefacts recovered from shipwrecks have a natural connection with travel. Either they have been on board the ship and travelled to the same destinations or they originate from the destinations visited by the ship. The Shipwreck Centre’s collection has numerous items that have a connection to maritime travel. Some are extremely fascinating to the viewer, such as the “Feejee mermaid” that was discussed in a previous blog post.

Indian rupees on display at the Shipwreck Centre from the SS Camberwell. Credits: Shipwreck Centre and Maritime Museum

On the wreck of the SS Camberwell, divers found Indian rupee banknotes which were still recognisable. Remarkably these had survived for 70 years before they were brought back to the surface. The SS Camberwell sunk on the 18th May 1917 when it struck a mine and sunk 6 miles SE of Dunnose Head on the Isle of Wight. Sadly seven people perished with the sinking of the ship, all with Indian heritage.

India was officially recognised as a British colony in 1858 when the Crown took control of India from the East Indian Trading Company. Lascars, or Indian sailors had already been employed by the EITC as sailors in the 17th century. With the Royal Navy’s demand for sailors during wars the number of Indian sailors quickly rose. By 1917 the number of Indian sailors on British registered vessels were up to over 51 000.

The rupees found on the SS Camberwell tell the journey of the people connected with the ship. Like the mermaid and the HMS Victory’s logbook mentioned earlier this week, the bank notes have travelled far before ending up on display at the Shipwreck Centre on the Isle of Wight. Just like the people on board the SS Camberwell before it sank in 1917.

#MuseumWeek2017: Theme of the day, BOOKS!

Museum Week is an international online event that is running from 19th to 25th June 2017. Organised in collaboration with UNESCO, the Museum Week is a chance for heritage institutions across the world to share and talk about our passion for heritage with the public through social media. This year we are celebrating equality by dedicating the Museum Week to all women in the world.

The Maritime Archaeology Trust will be sharing with you our take on Museum Week. In collaboration with the Shipwreck Centre and Maritime Museum on the Isle of Wight we will be looking through their collections and bring you artefacts and histories that are linked in with the theme of the day.

The Friday theme during Museum Week is BOOKS!

Logbook from the whaling ship Diana from hull, which accounts for a very tragic story. Source: http://www.mylearning.org/ships-log-of-the-diana/p-4300/

Or in our case, more accurately logbooks! A logbook or ship’s log is a record of important events that happened during the ship’s journey. This also includes management, operation and navigation of the ship.

The logbook was a key part of navigating a ship. Navigation is largely based on defining the latitude and longitude of the ship’s location. The longitude is the more difficult one to determine, as it requires the sailor to know the local time to determine what time zone they were travelling through, and as such determine their location by combining the ship’s latitude position. Medieval sailors were unable to determine the latitude-longitude completely accurately, due to the technology that was available to them at the time. As such the sailors heavily relied on the dead reckoning system. The dead reckoning principle works the following way. The sailor would start by taking a known or assumed position of the ship. Then the heading and the speed of the ship from this location would be measured, as well as the speed of the ocean currents, the leeward (downwind) drift, and how long the ship spent at each heading. Based on this information, the navigator could determine the course of the ship and how far the ship had travelled. This was noted down in the logbook, which was then used to as a reference to check the accuracy of the predicted dead reckoning.

A ship’s logbook holds a huge wealth of material for maritime archaeologists. Finding a ship’s logbook is like finding a gold mine. We can retrace the journey of the ship from the logbook and compare that to any remains we may have found. This is valuable when trying to determine the identity of a wreck for example. It also gives us a great insight into what life on board was like. For a great example is an extract from the logbook of the Halsewell.  The Halsewell was a merchant ship based in the East India Company. There is a record in their logbook from 19th October 1781, where Lord Nelson (then Captain) recruits experienced sailors for the Navy, leaving the ship with only “foreigners and servants”.

Captain Nelson recruiting experienced sailors from the Haslewell. Source: http://www.bl.uk/learning/timeline/item105531.html

The Shipwreck Centre also holds logbooks in their collection. An example can be seen here of the logbook from the HMS Victory which subsequently became the logbook of the HMS Duke of Wellington, the ship that replaced the HMS Victory as the Port Admiral flagship at Portsmouth between 1869 and 1891 (McKay 1987:9). Next time you visit the Shipwreck Centre and Maritime Museum on the Isle of Wight, try to spot the logbook which is on display next to old toothpaste and wood from the Mary Rose!

Cadet logbook of the HMS Victory on display in the Shipwreck Centre. Source: Shipwreck Centre and Maritime Museum

#MuseumWeek2017: Theme of the day, STORIES!

Museum Week is an international online event that is running from 19th to 25th June 2017. Organised in collaboration with UNESCO, the Museum Week is a chance for heritage institions across the world to share and talk about our passion for heritage with the public through social media. This year we are celebrating equality by dedicating the Museum Week to all women in the world.

The Maritime Archaeology Trust will be sharing with you our take on Museum Week. In collaboration with the Shipwreck Centre and Maritime Museum on the Isle of Wight we will be looking through their collections and bring you artefacts and histories that are linked in with the theme of the day.

The Little Mermaid by E.S. Hardy, 19th century painting. Source: https://fineartamerica.com/featured/little-mermaid-e-s-hardy.html

The Thursday theme is, STORIES!

We have a special one for you today! There are probably very few people in the world who haven’t heard about the myth of mermaids. But did you know that in the Victorian period “real” mermaids were sold as collectables?

The myths of the mermaids and mermen date back as far as 1000 BC. The Assyrian legends told of a queen who accidentally killed her lover. In despair she threw herself into the sea to transform into a fish but the water only transformed half of her body and as such she became half fish and half human.

Stories of similar creatures can be found across the world. In Africa the legend of Mami Wata, a powerful water spirit, sometimes takes the shape of a mermaid. She is not too dissimilar from the legends of European mermaids (think HC Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid”). Interestingly the legend of the mermaid Lasirn in the Caribbean has resemblance to both the African and European legends. We also find records of mermaid stories and sightings from the American, Inuit, Indonesian, Australian and Japanese cultures.

A “Feejee merman” can be found in the collection at the Shipwreck Centre and Maritime Museum on the Isle of Wight. Image credits: The Shipwreck Centre and Maritime Museum

The collectable mermaid hoax has been around for centuries. However, the most famous version was created by an American conman, P.T. Barnum, in 1842. Known as the “Feejee mermaid”, it was said that this mermaid corpse had been caught near the Fiji islands in the South Pacific. In actual fact the head of the “mermaid” was of a monkey while the tail was from a fish. Put together and dried out it does make for a quite convincing deep-water creature. During the Victorian period people would buy these “mermaids” as collectables from their trips. Especially in Japan this became a very popular thing to sell to the tourists. The “Feejee mermaid” is now often referred to as the Japanese monkey-fish.

When you visit the Shipwreck Centre and Maritime Museum on the Isle of Wight be sure to check out the “Feejee mermaid” we have in our collection!

#MuseumWeek2017: Theme of the day, MUSIC!

Museum Week is an international online event that is running from 19th to 25th June 2017. Organised in collaboration with UNESCO, the Museum Week is a chance for heritage institions across the world to share and talk about our passion for heritage with the public through social media. This year we are celebrating equality by dedicating the Museum Week to all women in the world.

The Maritime Archaeology Trust will be sharing with you our take on Museum Week. In collaboration with the Shipwreck Centre and Maritime Museum on the Isle of Wight we will be looking through their collections and bring you artefacts and histories that are linked in with the theme of the day.

Wednesday’s Museum Week theme is MUSIC!

Musical instruments found during the excavation of the Mary Rose. Images credits: Mary Rose Museum [Source: http://www.maryrose.org/discover-our-collection/her-crew/life-on-board/]

Music has always been an important aspect in seafaring. Musical instruments were used by the crew for entertainment, but also for keeping pace when rowing and calling for action. When excavating the Mary Rose archaeologist discovered a number of musical instruments in the crew belongings on the orlop deck. These included tabor pipes, a tabor/drum and the earliest example of a shawm which is an early form of oboe. Famously during the sinking of the Titanic, records state that the band was playing on deck while the ship was sinking to help keep the passengers calm.

Wallace Hartley’s violin. He was one of the band members on the Titanic. Image credit: BNPS.co.uk [Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2293232/Water-stained-violin-proven-played-brave-bandmaster-Titanic-sank.html]

Although it is not a musical instrument as such, the Bosun’s whistle has a long history in the seafaring world. For example, it is thought that the Roman’s used a type of whistle to keep the rowers in pace on their war ships. The whistle is commonly used in the Navy. It is used to attract the attention of the crew before handing out orders. Different calls have different meanings and sometimes just the whistle call itself is enough to deliver the message, such as the “Carry On” command.

Examples of the Bosun’s Whistle can be found at the Shipwreck Centre. The whistles are located in the bottom right hand corner of the picture. Image credits: The Shipwreck Centre and Maritime Museum [Source: https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipNGxx3z33Z8ji16TBFJCoqpIbaSu3dwQsMrGIx99WACfB8hJnVfJ8a9kHFcHsvSSQ?key=YUhSYzBQdFZIWGM3TFNUclJlXzNCSDhCUU0yZ09n]

Of course, the use of musical instruments was not always necessary in order to make music. Sea shantys were commonly sung by the crew while working on board the ship. It helped keep the crew’s morale up while completing tedious tasks.

#MuseumWeek2017: Theme of the day, SPORTS!

Museum Week is an international online event that is running from 19th to 25th June 2017. Organised in collaboration with UNESCO, the Museum Week is a chance for heritage institions across the world to share and talk about our passion for heritage with the public through social media. This year we are celebrating equality by dedicating the Museum Week to all women in the world.

The Maritime Archaeology Trust will be sharing with you our take on Museum Week. In collaboration with the Shipwreck Centre and Maritime Museum on the Isle of Wight we will be looking through their collections and bring you artefacts and histories that are linked in with the theme of the day

The Tuesday theme for the week is SPORTS!

Antique diving suits at the Shipwreck Centre and Maritime Museum on the Isle of Wight. Photo Credit: The Shipwreck Centre

Did you know that at the Shipwreck Centre we hold a collection of antique diving gear? Augustus Siebe, who is a German born inventor, is credited as the first person to design the closed diving suit, i.e. full suit and helmet in one. The design came about after he was contacted by the Deane brothers who wanted Siebe to come up with a new helmet design to replace their own. The Deane brothers are well-known in maritime history. They were the first people to discover the wreck of the Mary Rose among other things.

Martin Woodward wearing an antique diving suit in the 70s. Photo credit: The Shipwreck Centre

The first design of the Siebe diving suit came about in 1839. Still a century after its creation – Siebe’s diving suit was still used all over the world. Martin Woodward, the founder of the Shipwreck Centre and Maritime Museum on the Isle of Wight, proved that the antique diving suit design can still be used when he tried it out in the 70s.

Martin Woodward recently gearing up in an antique diving suit. Photo Credit: The Shipwreck Centre

Diving Week 13th to 16th June 2017

Diver being winched onto the boat after completing photogrammetry survey

The Maritime Archaeology Trust’s first proper fieldwork diving week took place in June. We were joined by researchers from the ForSEADiscovery  project who specialise in analysing wood for maritime archaeological research.

Setting off from Lymington in the New Forest aboard the Wight Spirit we headed off towards the Isle of Wight. The weather was delightfully sunny and we were hoping for great visibility below the surface!

The first of our chosen sites was the SS South Western. She was sunk by a torpedo south of the Isle of Wight on 16th March 1917, with only 6 survivors out of a crew of 32. Many of the crew members had links to Southampton and consequently the SS South Western becomes a prominent part of the local history. The ship is part of our current Forgotten Wrecks of WWI project which is looking at ships that were lost during WWI, of 1914 to 1918, on the south coast of England. More on the project can be found here .

The aims and objectives for this site was to identify some key features on the ship. This included a detail recording of the cargo and boilers, and also locating the ship’s gun. The dive team managed to achieve a good amount of data for photogrammetry . This data will be compiled into a detailed 3D model for us to study in the comfort our dry (but very hot!) office. For an example of what a photogrammetry model looks like, please see the model of the HMD John Mitchell here.

Brandon and Garry looking at data from the wreck sites

The second wrecksite we wanted to look at this week was the SS Hazelwoood. The ship hit a mine on the 19th October 1917, with the loss of all 32 crew members.  The location of the Hazelwood is still to be positively identified. However, our dive boat skipper and historian, Dave Wendes, believes that the wreck identified as the Saxmundham is in fact the SS Hazelwood. The wreck site is located at a depth of 32 meters. Previous dives on the site done in 2015 were plagued by poor visibility and as such we weren’t previously able to determine the identity of the wreck. This time the conditions were slightly better and we were able to conduct a photogrammetry survey. The photos taken of the site will be compiled into a 3D model which will hopefully help us determine the identity of the wreck once and for all.

The final site we looked at during this week was the submerged Mesolithic landscape at Bouldnor Cliff. The site dates back about 8000 years and has in-situ archaeological remains which are connected with the submerged landscape. The Mesolithic peat deposits lie at a depth of 12 meters, while two additional peat layers above broadly date to the Neolithic and Bronze Age. The aims and objectives of this survey was to check the erosion rate against the previously placed datum points across the site. We also took several sediment samples for palaeo-environmental analysis. Previous samples have concluded that e.g. wheat arrived in Britain 2000 years before we have evidence of humans farming it. Hopefully these new samples will add further knowledge into the nature of the landscape during the Mesolithic.

During the diving week we also had the pleasure of the company from a reporter, Rikke, who is doing coverage for BBC 3. Stay tuned for more updates during the summer!

Rikke querying Nigel and Garry about the finds

 

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