RPM Nautical Foundation

RPM Nautical Foundation is a non-profit archaeological research organization dedicated to the advancement of maritime archaeology that includes littoral surveys and excavation of individual shipwreck and harbor sites.

RPM Nautical Foundation (RPMNF) is organized to operate exclusively for charitable, scientific, literary and educational purposes, all within the meaning of sections 170(c)(2) and 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code.

The operating purpose of the company is to engage in the detection, identification, study and preservation of nautical archaeological and historic sites for scientific research, public education and the advancement of technology. The organization also provides fieldwork and training experience in the field to students as well as the personnel and staff of various government, cultural and educational institutions.

Over the past several years, RPM Nautical Foundation has moved into the forefront of archaeological survey and deep-water investigation through intensive and systematic use of advanced technologies. Multibeam echosounder systems employed on the RPMNF research vessel R/V Hercules allows advanced seafloor mapping capabilities for archaeological purposes. Through the three-dimensional modeling process of multibeam echosounder data, RPMNF has developed the capabilities for identification of submerged cultural material sites. Potential sites identified from the process of remote sensing data are verified and documented with ROV and diver investigation. A multibeam head fixed upon the ROV also provides an effective method for intensive ground truthing of site areas. The ROV is also employed for the excavation of deep-water sites; an excavation methodological process that RPMNF is helping to advance within the field of maritime archaeology.

RPMNF’s remote sensing and verification methodology has proved successful in the identification, mapping, and recording of shipwreck sites and harbor works from the ancient through modern eras in project conducted to date in Spain, Malta, Morocco, Cyprus, Sicily, Amalfi and Calabria (Italy), and Turkey. All archaeological work is performed in conjunction with the host country’s cultural authority and assists in both scholarly research and educational projects. As with all ventures, the standing policy with RPM is that all artifacts are under the jurisdiction of the host government at all times. Bathymetric data is also made available to host country hydrographic departments in order to supplement their oceanographic mapping programs.

RPMNF research vessel R/V Hercules is Maltese flagged and based in Valletta, Malta during the winter months. This research vessel can be deployed throughout the Mediterranean on a project basis.

Read more about RPM Nautical Foundation:  History, Institutional Partners, Project History, International, Publications, See Also

Famous quotes containing the word foundation:

    I believe that the mind can be permanently profaned by the habit of attending to trivial things, so that all our thoughts shall be tinged with triviality. Our very intellect shall be macadamized, as it were,—its foundation broken into fragments for the wheels of travel to roll over.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)