Report on the 2023 Meeting of States Parties to the 2001 UNESCO Convention of Underwater Cultural Heritage by Shannon Nelson-Maney. To view the report please CLICK THIS LINK.
AN INVITATION
HMS Gaspee Archaeology Study Exhibit Open
Warwick Public Library, 600 Sandy Lane
The Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project (RIMAP) has opened an exhibit of its archaeological study to find HMS Gaspee, the small Royal Navy ship burned by Patriots in 1772 on Warwick’s Namquid Point. The Hon. Joseph McNamara was Master of Ceremonies for general remarks from supporters and participants, and the ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the exhibit was followed by a simple reception. For a report and more information, please scroll down.
The event is free and open to the public. Families are encouraged to attend.
The exhibit includes displays of:
How the history of HMS Gaspee and events during the Revolution in Rhode Island supported RIMAP’s archaeological research design.
Training of the RIMAP team of local citizen scientists to participate in the ongoing Warwick fieldwork.
Results of RIMAP’s local field team studies of ships off the nearby Warwick shore, commonly misidentified as the Gaspee.
Results of the specially funded 2021 and 2022 remote sensing surveys of the area around Gaspee Point and along the Warwick shore.
What RIMAP hoped to find, and what RIMAP did find.
How RIMAP’s historical and archaeological investigations of the natural and human processes along the Warwick shore explain what happened to HMS Gaspee.
RIMAP’s HMS Gaspee studies will continue as our state celebrates further 250th anniversaries of Rhode Island’s contribution to the American Revolution. For more information about the exhibit, and how to participate in Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project activities, please contact: rhodeislandmap@yahoo.com.
Marine borers and how they damage wooden ships and other sea structures
A Presentation
Marine biologist Dr. Reuben Shipway will present a summary of his research into the life cycle of wood-eating marine invertebrates (such as gribbles and shipworms) and their microbial symbionts, at 2-3:30 pm Saturday, August 6, 2022 at the Warwick Public Library (600 Sandy Lane, Warwick, RI 02889). No booking required.
Dr. Reuben Shipway.
Dr. Shipway is a Lecturer in Marine Biology at the University of Plymouth in the United Kingdom. His studies include advanced imaging, microbiology and omics to understand how these animals eat wood and the role they play in various ecosystems - from deep sea wood falls to mangrove forests, seagrass roots to historic wooden shipwrecks, and coastal constructions like piers and sea defenses. His interest is in the chemical, enzymatic and mechanical processes of wood digestion in these animals, and especially the cultural impact of shipworms, how they have changed and continue to change history, and how we can protect our underwater cultural heritage from shipworm biodegradation.
Dr. Reuben Shipway completed his BSc and his PhD in Marine Biology from the University of Portsmouth (UK) and was a post-doctoral researcher at the Microbiology Department, University of Massachusetts (USA), and the Ocean Genome Legacy Center (Northeastern University, Massachusetts, USA).
The August 6 presentation is sponsored by the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project, and Dr. Shipway is a participating scientist in RIMAP's studies of local shipwrecks. The presentation is free and open to the public.
THE NEWPORT TRANSPORT REPORT - A Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project Study.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report is a detailed summary of what the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project (RIMAP) knows to date about the fleet of thirteen British transports scuttled in Newport Harbour in 1778. It summarizes why the ships were sunk and what happened to them afterwards, how RIMAP began the search for their remains and located potential sites, how RIMAP mapped and completed preliminary surveys of these located sites and predicts the locations of the rest, what the present studies tell us about the ships, and suggestions for future research. You can purchase the full report (259 pages) in our publication shop. Please click HERE.
Release: November 4, 2020
RIMAP's fall 2020 fieldwork and a special look at post-processing archaeological data
The fall fieldwork session (seven days between Oct. 24-Nov. 1) is complete and the results will be announced later. This was the continuation of RIMAP's study of the British transports scuttled in Newport Harbor in August 1778. In the days leading up to the Battle of RI, 13 ships were purposely sunk parallel to the shore of Newport's Outer Harbor. This was a blockade to protect the city from the threatening French fleet during the American Revolution. Later these vessels were left to rot on the harbor floor, and in 1992 RIMAP began the process to locate and study them. To date, RIMAP has found and studied 10 of these vessels, and this summer we started tentative excavations of a possible #11.
The site studied during the fall session is RI 2394 and is the major candidate to be the Lord Sandwich ex Endeavour. The Lord Sandwich was one of the transports in this fleet that had been used to carry Hessian (German) troops to serve with the British in Rhode Island during the Revolution. In her earlier career, this vessel had been the Endeavour Bark of Capt. Cook's first circumnavigation. So far, everything seen on this site is consistent with it being an 18th-century transport from that fleet, and many of its structural details are consistent with what is known of how the Endeavour was built. However, we have yet to find specific diagnostic evidence to prove this ship is the Lord Sandwich ex Endeavour and not one of the other vessels in this fleet that were similar. Without finding something that is exclusively associated with the Endeavour, or her later use as the Lord Sandwich, we cannot be certain of the identification of RI 2394.
On the other hand, the fall 2020 fieldwork did push the work forward, and it's possible that later analysis of what was done this time might reveal further evidence to identify the RI 2394 site. In any case, none of this particular session could have happened without all the loyal and intrepid RIMAP volunteers, and especially the generosity of the Aquidneck Mooring Company that provided the research vessel. The financial support of the Australian National Maritime Museum again allowed us to conduct more days of work. Unfortunately, Covid travel restrictions meant that the ANMM archaeology team could not join us this time, but marine archaeologist John Broadwater came from Virginia to represent the museum during this expedition. Although this formal session is now closed, there are fieldwork tasks related to the current research design that must be completed, and RIMAP will continue that work at intervals later this fall and into the winter.
Now that the major session of the fall archaeological diving is done, the field gear needs to be cleaned and stored for the next time, and there is still equipment to retrieve from the research vessel. The cultural materials retrieved from the test pit excavations must be documented, analyzed and properly managed, and most of it is to be returned to their original locations. Then the data from all of this cultural material, daily fieldwork descriptions, underwater photos and videos, must be analyzed and archived. Only after all of these necessary supporting activities are completed, can we write the final report and with confidence announce our findings.
Multiple RIMAP volunteers spent weeks getting ready for this session, and now we face months in this closeout and post-processing. So although marine archaeology seems to be all about the glamorous diving on shipwrecks, our RIMAP volunteers understand that there is much more to do to complete the study. Our non-divers always help with that, too, so if you are interested to participate, please use the applications on this website to join RIMAP, take our training, and volunteer!
The Purpose of Archaeology and the use of 3D Imaging - The live stream on October 31, 2020
The purpose of archaeology is to find out how people lived in the past, especially what happened that doesn't get recorded in historical documents. The cultural materials retrieved by archaeologists are the tangible remains of that past, and they supplement, replace, and sometimes contradict the written record. Our knowledge of minorities, women, and other overlooked groups has been greatly increased by archaeological studies. Marine archaeologists face the added challenge of doing their work in a water environment, most often at a shipwreck, but the goal is the same -- to understand the evidence of human behavior that is left behind in the record of an archaeological site.
The public's particular interest is usually focused on the exciting time when a "discovery" is made, a new shipwreck found or an artifact that identifies it, or something exotic or very valuable that excites imagination. But archaeologists can usually tell a lot more about how people lived in the past from the small things that emerge from an archaeological study.
That is why RIMAP and Functional 3D sponsored a live web feed to show how to scan artifacts taken up from an 18th-century shipwreck in Newport harbor during the October 2020 fieldwork. The live-streamed event was captured and can now be seen on YouTube. The uncut and unedited footage is available by clicking the link:
3D Scanning Artifacts Collected by RI Marine Archaeology Project
R. J. Heim,, of WJAR TV Channel 10, the Providence NBC affiliate, did interviews for the evening news on October 30, he discussed the project, and promoted the planned 3D imaging event. That Friday was very cold with heavy winds and blowing snow, and you can see R.J. stand on the shore to describe the project in the clip posted HERE.
RIMAP usually includes an outreach-education component as part of its research, and in the past it was possible to visit the on-shore triage tent where members of the public could talk to the conservator who sorted the cultural materials that had come from the excavation. This time the pandemic did not allow such public access, so the online 3D scanning was a way to observe some of the post-processing of artifacts from a distance. Gurney's Resort on Goat Island in Newport was again a co-sponsor for RIMAP, donating the space from which to work and providing access to their internet for the live-stream. Functional 3D set up the technology and RIMAP selected the 18th-century artifacts to be scanned, items had been taken from the excavation the previous day.
Among these cultural materials were a broken glass bottle base and two pieces of wood showing the holes for missing wooden fastenings (called treenails - pronounced "trunnels"). There was a piece of flat glass, two pieces of brick, and two bags of small materials (that were sorted off screen).
Of particular interest was an as-yet unidentified piece of bone. These may not seem to be very exciting objects, but they all provide information about what was in use on the ship before it was scuttled. Plus their careful study may tease out details that will tell us a lot about how people used the items while living on board.
We chose the piece of bone as the first object to scan. There were no known lives lost when these ships were scuttled in Newport Harbor in 1778, so we do not expect to find human remains, but such animal bones can be evidence of what sorts of food was available on board. RIMAP has studied many of the other ships in this fleet, and animal bones have been present on them, too. They are from mammals (mostly farm animals), fish, and even rats. If we match our knowledge of how ships were provisioned with a knowledge of Rhode Island farming and animal husbandry during the same period, and if we understand that the British traded with (and often raided) local farms to supplement their provisions, we might be able to understand better the nutrition and the general health of the people on board.
Food bones always deserve detailed documentation. Knife marks on the surface might tell how the animal was slaughtered and butchered, and possibly how the meat was stored and then prepared for cooking. Marks on the interior might indicate if the particularly nutritious marrow was extracted, and even teeth marks can tell if humans or animals have gnawed on the bone. This sort of study may not be as exciting as finding treasure, or even making a ship identification, but such small details can tell a lot about how and what people ate, and the challenges of living on a ship at that time. So further study of this object, and especially any details that may emerge from the 3D imaging, may help us to understand that better.
The second object scanned in the video is a very small piece of strangely shaped metal. It was found in one of the bags of small materials, and was chosen only because it was an unusual shape. We don't know yet what it might be, possibly just a piece of slag, but its size and the fact it was very shiny made this item a challenge for the scanning process and it showed how versatile Functional 3D is at doing this sort of detailed work.
The uncut and unedited video of the process shows how long it takes to do the scanning of each object, but what the video doesn't show is all the preparation in the days before and the time it took for the Functional 3D crew to set up on that Saturday morning, and then pack up at the end. The video certainly shows the level of detail needed for such post-fieldwork archaeological studies and how the 3D imaging can help that process.
A note about conservation of artifacts and what should happen to them
Although the glass bottle base, pieces of wood and brick are commonly found on 18th-century shipwrecks, they all deserve documentation and further study. The materials from the bags included various types of stone, shells, slag, coal, and small bits of wood, and in the past we have found buttons, a broken ceramic pipe stem, and other important cultural items hidden among such "fiddly bits." In the next couple of weeks RIMAP will document all this material from the recent excavation at our lab on the campus of the Herreshoff Marine Museum in Bristol, RI. After all the data are retrieved for future study, then most of this material will be repatriated to the site, and deposited in the areas from which they were taken.
It is common for land archaeologists to study their excavated materials, retrieve the data, and then return most of the objects to the site. That can usually happen with little damage to the artifacts since they are dry and stable when they are retrieved, and remain so after they are returned to the site.
However, materials taken from a marine archaeology study are especially difficult and expensive to manage. Waterlogged organic materials like wood, leather, textiles, and even bone, require expensive special treatments so that they won't deteriorate as they dry out. Inorganic materials like stone and some ceramics might be rinsed, dried, and marked, but metal objects can also deteriorate and oxidize, and therefore require different techniques depending on their composition. Even glass should be stabilized, too. All of this should be done by a professional conservator with a special knowledge of the chemistry, physics, and materials science that is necessary to treat each different type of object properly. Then the best practice for storage of archaeological artifacts is at a properly climate controlled location, and they should be kept there in perpetuity for future scholars to study. For the present excavation, most of the original objects will not be available for study since they will be returned to the site, but in lieu of seeing the objects in person, RIMAP will make the data related to each available to future scholars.
RIMAP has established a conservation facility at the Herreshoff Marine Museum, to manage all of these different processes, and with a grant from the Australian National Maritime Museum, a professional conservator was on staff for a year to prepare previously collected materials. Unfortunately, we have not yet found the funds to replace that conservator, so although the collection already in custody is well maintained, few cultural materials from this latest "dig" may be kept because of the lack of proper conservation attention. So in the absence of the conservator, the best practice for the survival of these items is to document them as completely as possible, bag and tag them as having been part of this study, and then deposit them in their original environments. We would prefer to keep everything from every dig, but space limitations and the lack of the financial wherewithal to curate things in perpetuity makes that impossible at present.
If anyone is interested in helping to financially support the RIMAP conservator position, of otherwise get involved in RIMAP activities, please let us know.
The partners for the fall 2020 Newport Harbor project were:
Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission
Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project: Check out other areas of this website, or contact us by email at: rhodeislandmap@yahoo.com
Release: January 2020
Dr. D.K (Kathy) Abbass recently wrote an article for the Etc, The Magazine, a publication of The Redwood Library & Athenæum entitled ‘The Search for Capt. Cooks Endeavour in Newport Harbor’. You can read the article, beginning on page 9, below.