Australian Archaeology - Underwater and Maritime Archaeology in Australia

Underwater and Maritime Archaeology in Australia

Underwater archaeology is archaeology practised in a submerged environment. It encompasses the pre-historic and historic eras. Maritime Archaeology (the study of humans and their activities in, on, around and under the seas, rivers and estuaries) and Nautical Archaeology, (the specialised study of boat and ship construction) are allied sub-disciplines of archaeology as a whole. Often the sites or relics are not inundated, however. Of late these various studies have progressed into the Industrial and post-war eras. In mirroring its terrestrial roots, underwater archaeology, maritime and nautical archaeology can now include the examination of a wide range of sites ranging from the Indigenous through to industrial archaeology and of late the study of wartime and post-war sites, including historic submerged aircraft. Better known as a sub-discipline of aviation archaeology, underwater aviation archaeology is arguably the most recent offshoot of underwater archaeology developing its theoretical underpinnings and a substantial corpus of fieldwork, research and publication work in the late 1990s. Maritime Archaeology, as the first of these sub-disciplines to emerge in Australia commenced under the aegis of Jeremy Green in the 1970s due to concerns expressed by academics and politicians with the rampant destruction of the Dutch and British East India ships lost on the west coast. As Commonwealth legislation was enacted and enforced after 1976 and as States enacted their own legislation the sub-discipline spread throughout Australia as a result of on-going funding by both the States and the Commonwealth. While also encompassing the study of port-related structures ( e.g. jetties, anchorages), lighthouses, moorings, defences etc., initially the focus in maritime archaeology was solely on shipwrecks. Now far broader in its scope, some states maritime and underwater archaeology is practised out of Museums and in others out of cultural heritage management units. There are also numerous practitioners in private practice, or acting as consultants. Regardless, all practitioners operate under the aegis of the Australasian Institute for Maritime Archaeology (AIMA).