In conjunction with Texas A&M University’s Nautical Archaeology Program, this year, the Institute of Nautical Archaeology conducted 19 archaeological projects around the globe in the United States, Canada, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Turkey, Spain, Lebanon, Cyprus, Sweden, Italy, Ukraine, Japan, Vietnam and at sea between Crete and Egypt. Eleven of the projects are ongoing, and eight are new initiatives. New projects are marked with an asterisk*
Anthony Wayne Shipwreck Survey*
Bradley Krueger and Carrie Sowden
The Anthony Wayne Shipwreck Survey is striving to accomplish several major goals throughout the duration of the project: to learn about early Great Lakes steamboat construction and technology, to discover how passenger and cargo steamers impacted both regional and national economic development, and to learn about those who worked, lived, and traveled aboard these early steam vessels. Project Details
Bajo de la Campana Phoenician Shipwreck Excavation Cartagena, Spain
Mark Polzer and Juan Pinedo
The second season of excavation on a 7th-century BC Phoenician shipwreck will commence again this summer off Cartagena. The initial dives on the site yielded well-preserved elephant tusks with Phoenician inscriptions, amber and ceramics. Project Details
Bạch Đằng Documentation & Assessment *
Randall Sasaki and Jun Kimura
A National Geographic Society funded survey and assessment will take place at the site of a famous battle outside Hanoi where Mongol invaders sent by Kublai Khan met with defeat in 1288. A preliminary survey of the battle site and previous investigation of the site by Vietnamese archaeologists has documented the survival of large wooden stakes planted in the river bed to trap the invading fleet. Project Details
Baltic Ghost Wreck Project *
Donovan Griffin
A perfectly preserved, nearly intact merchant vessel from the early to mid 17th century lies in 125 meters of water off the coast of Sweden in the Baltic. The 2009 field season will continue the documentation of the wreck and film it for a television documentary. Project Details
Blockade Runner Denbigh Write Up, Texas
J. Barto Arnold
The test excavation and documentation of this Civil War blockade runner’s wreck is done; Barto Arnold continued the process of writing up the results of the work for publication.
Project Details
Danaos Project, Crete to Egypt
Shelley Wachsmann
The third season of a deepwater survey between Crete and Egypt followed the route of ancient mariners in the hope of finding a Minoan shipwreck. Project Details
Eastern Cyprus Maritime Survey, Cyprus
Justin Leidwanger
The ancient shores of Cyprus are once more the setting for a survey of shallower water sites, seeking shipwrecks and other remains from maritime activity. The site of a Roman wreck of ca. AD 100, discovered in 2007, will again be the focus of mapping and intensive survey. Project Details
Frigate Ertuğrul Underwater Excavation, Japan
Tufan Turanlı
The survey and excavation of the site of a tragic 1890 shipwreck of an Ottoman naval frigate on a mission to Japan again involves a joint Turkish-Japanese team. Project Details
Harbour Island Archaeological Survey*
Heather Hatch
This project will investigate sites on land associated with British maritime and mercantile activity from the late 17th and early 18th centuries at Harbour Island, a British settlement in the Bahamas.
Kekova Adasi, Turkey, Exploration of the Iron Age Shipwreck
Elizabeth Greene
Located by an INA survey years ago, this ancient wreck was visited again in 2008; permission has been requested to begin excavation in 2009 as part of a collaborative project with Brock University in Canada. Project Details
Kızılburun Roman Period Shipwreck Excavation
Deborah Carlson and Donny Hamilton
The final season of excavation of this 1st-century BCE Roman Period wreck focuses on the buried remnants of the hull formerly covered by the ship’s cargo of massive marble column drums. Project Details
Lake Ontario Maritime Cultural Landscape Study
Ben Ford
The final season of survey in 2008 cleared the way for this year’s completion of a detailed report on the submerged features, shipwrecks, docks and setting of a section of this historic lake, including the scene of naval action in the War of 1812.
Project Details
Pisa Wreck Amphora Graffiti *
Claire Aliki Collins
A collection of five types of amphoras from an 13th-century AD wreck, excavated in the Bay of Sudak, off Novy Svet, Ukraine, is the focus of a two-month study to document and transcribe the markings on these medieval storage and transport jars. The jars are in the conservation laboratory of the Center for Underwater Archaeology of the National Taras Schevchenko University in Kiev. Project Details
Renaissance Venetian Naval Manuscript Study, Italy
Lilia Campana
An ongoing assessment and study of rare Venetian manuscripts dating from 1500 to 1620 will continue to add to our knowledge of Renaissance shipbuilding in this center of Mediterranean trade and culture. In 2009, the emphasis is on the photo reproduction and transcription of a folder of documents, “Patroni e Provveditori all’Arsenale,” (Patrons and Superintendents to the Arsenal). Project Details
Steamboat Phoenix *
George Schwarz
This early American steamboat caught fire and sank in Vermont’s Lake Champlain in October 1819. Rediscovered and the subject of a preliminary documentation project in 1981, Phoenix will now be extensively documented and virtually reconstructed on computer and on paper.
Project Details.
Warwick Project, Bermuda
Piotr Bojakowski and Katie Custer
Warwick is not only a prime example of late 16th-century naval warships, but also of the early 17th-century ships that played a fundamental role in supplying the English settlements in North America. Thus, the historic significance of this ship is unquestionable. Project Details
Western Ledge Reef Wreck Timber Analysis, Bermuda
Piotr Bojakowski and Katie Custer
The timbers from this early 17th-century wreck, previously excavated in Bermuda, are being documented and reconstructed on paper by two talented Nautical Archaeology Program students. Project Details
Yassıada Amphora Study, Turkey *
Frederick van Doorninck
Amphoras recovered from the Yassıada excavation will be analyzed in the Nixon Griffis Conservation Laboratory at Bodrum Center to determine capacity.
Yukon Gold Rush Steamer Survey, Canada
John Pollack
Canada’s Yukon and the well-preserved remains of Klondike Gold Rush era steamers will be the focus of a third season of field survey and documentation in this remote wilderness. A well preserved wreck, A.J. Goddard, discovered in Lake Laberge last year, will be the focus of dives and documentation. Project Details