| Maritime Archaeological Field School,
Flinders University, South Australia
Nathan Richards (Flinders University, Australia)
ehntr@flinders.edu.au
From 3-18 February 2001, Flinders University
ran its inaugural maritime archaeological
field-school course (ARCH 3304) at Port
Victoria, on Yorke Peninsula, west of Adelaide,
South Australia.
Commencing with a two-day AIMA/NAS Part
1 Course on the weekend of 3 and 4 February,
and followed by 14 days in the field, the
16 students in attendance were exposed to
a range of sites, techniques and technologies
associated with maritime archaeological
practice. While the AIMA/NAS scheme (commenced
in South Australia in 1997 by the Australian
Institute for Maritime Archaeology) was
designed as a training outlet in the United
Kingdom by the Nautical Archaeology Society
(NAS) for avocational maritime enthusiasts
and sports divers, it has been found to
be an important means of ensuring standards
in training for terrestrially inclined archaeology
students. Other benefits through the use
of a structured and accumulative training
scheme, such as AIMA/NAS, mean that out
of such activities, a series of reports
can be produced, which adds significantly
to the already extensive archive of material
on maritime heritage sites. This also allows
students to augment University training
with other modules in the AIMA/NAS scheme,
with some students completing their AIMA/NAS
part 2 certification, and all participants
adding to their AIMA/NAS part 2 and 3 modules
das a consequence of the field school.
Many organisations were represented, with
field-school staff members Dr. Mark Staniforth,
Matt Schlitz, Nathan Richards, Chris Lewczak,
Cass Philippou (Flinders University), Associate
Professor Peter Veth (James Cook University),
Bill Jeffery, Terry Arnott, Rick James (Heritage
South Australia), Vicky Richards, Corioli
Souter (Western Australian Maritime Museum)
and Viv Moran (Queensland Museum) all providing
appreciated assistance, guidance and unique
expertise during the duration of the field
school. Support was also obtained from the
Australian National Maritime Museum and
the Society for Underwater Historical Research
Inc. Special thanks must go to local Balgowan
resident Stuart Moody for access to his
voluminous local knowledge and extremely
charitable assistance, without which the
proceedings of the two weeks would not have
run nearly as smoothly.
A diverse array of tasks were carried out
on a range of sites, including wreck and
jetty site inspections, wreck surveys using
a range of recording techniques, corrosion
potential measurement tasks, magnetometer
searches and exposure to limited wreck excavation,
in-water communication systems, underwater
still photography, digital video and cutting
edge High Precision Acoustic Survey System
(HPASS) technology.
Investigations of allocated sections beneath
the historic Port Victoria jetty were a
major focus of the work carried out. The
jetty, built in 1878 to service the local
wheat growers in the area and came to be
the focal point of South Australia's fourth
largest shipping port. Constructed of jarrah,
ironbark and red gum, with a later addition
of steel replacement piles and sporting
tracks for horse drawn carts an L-head was
added in 1883 and it saw continued use up
until the 1950s.
A range of shipwreck sites was visited
around adjacent Wardang Island, a local
shipping hazard since 1907 with the wrecking
of the three-masted iron barque Aagot
(built 1882). The three masted iron ship
Songvaar (ex Barcore) (1884-1912),
the schooner rigged screw steamer Australian
(1879-1912), the three masted iron schooner
MacIntyre (1877-1927) and the composite
built three masted fore-and-aft schooner
Moorara (1909-1975) were the main
focal points for wreck survey exercises.
Also visited were the remains of the auxiliary
ketch Victor, wrecked close to shore
at Balgowan.
The field school is scheduled again for
February 2002. Contact Dr. Mark Staniforth
on (+61 8) 82015195 or at mark.staniforth@flinders.edu.au
|
World
Archaeological Bulletin