Free Access 14: Over 20,000 articles free to read

Now through April 26th, ALL online content, including 2015 issues for every single journal we publish in archaeology, conservation and heritage is 100 percent free to download. No sign ups, no registration, no strings attached: just free content from us to you. 

Free Access 14 (FA14) is our way of showing our appreciation for the amazing community of scholars and researchers who are dedicated to advancing knowledge in this exciting, ever-changing field. 

FA14 gives you access to research in 18 subject areas, including underwater archaeology, museum studies, field archaeology, conservation and more. The archives date back over 100 years to 1869. Click here to dig in and start enjoying your free content. 

Some of the most popular journals featured in this special promotion include: 

• Medieval Archaeology
• Studies in Conservation
• Museums & Social Issues 
• Environmental Archaeology
• Levant 
• European Journal of Archaeology
• Journal of Field Archaeology 

We're also excited to include some of our new titles for 2015: 

• AICCM Bulletin
• PaleoAmerica
• Southeastern Archaeology

Tired of all the free content? We didn't think so. You can enter to win online subscriptions to all 43 of our journals for an entire year when you Tweet using the hashtag #idigthisjournalbecause and mention @ManeyArchaeo 

Just let us know what makes your favorite journal so special, and you could be rich in archaeological research! Three runners up will also win an online subscription for the journal of their choice for a full year.  

NEW EVENT: Second Asia-Pacific regional conference on Underwater Cultural Heritage

12 - 16 May 2014, Honolulu, HI, USA

Hosted by the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation and University of Hawaii Marine Option Program

The 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage (UNESCO Convention 2001) entered into force on 2 January 2009 and now provides a basis for international cooperation and exchange of knowledge about underwater cultural heritage.

Recent decades have witnessed an expansion of activity directed at underwater cultural heritage which has raised awareness of its potential and significance. Underwater cultural heritage is complex, combining related disciplines and issues critical to our time. Consideration of indigenous cultural values, heritage tourism, biological interactions, socio-economic benefits, and threats from increased development, industrial extraction, certain diving activities, and even sea-level rise and erosion, continue to shape our understanding of this field. Our reliance on marine resources and need for ocean stewardship encourages government agencies, heritage groups, coastal zone managers, diving groups and other ocean users to formulate a better approach to investigating and managing non-renewable underwater cultural heritage.

This conference provides an opportunity to discuss the nature and meaning and potential of underwater cultural heritage, and to exchange and disseminate information about heritage and underwater/maritime archaeology projects from the countries of Asia and the countries of the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

This Conference is endorsed by numerous supporting organizations including IGOs, NGOs, government agencies, museums and universities.

Conference Aims

•  Address management and protection strategies of underwater cultural heritage in Asia
   and the countries of the Indian and Pacific Oceans in the 21st Century
•  Facilitate regional cooperation through the development of academic and
   governmental networks in the Asia-Pacific region
•  Provide a forum for discussion of technical and ethical issues related to underwater
   cultural heritage and underwater archaeology

For further information please visit the APCONF Conference website.

Cannon you believe it? The time and money it takes to conserve artefacts salvaged from shipwrecks

You may have seen in the news last week that further diving at the Elizabethan wreck that sank off Alderney in the Channel Islands, UK in the 16th Century has been carried out by the Alderney Maritime Trust and staff from Bournemouth University. They have uncovered three cannon and "substantial ship timbers" in addition to over 1,000 artefacts that were salvaged from the first dive to the wreck in 2008. The unnamed ship sunk in November 1592 and was discovered by local fishermen Bertie Costeril and Fred Shaw in 1977.

Mike Harrison, coordinator trustee, said more work on the site was going to go ahead next summer and explained the large lapse in time between dives by stating that "[t]hings move very slowly with marine archaeology, the work we've done in the last few years... has been conserving objects." However he also noted that "it's very, very expensive... we've got a lot of fundraising to do, it's tens of thousands of pounds, conserving a cannon is £10,000 for example."

I took a look in our online archive to read more about conservation in maritime archaeology and came across the article 'In situ conservation of cannon and anchors on shipwreck sites' by Ian Donald MacLeod in a 1996 issue of Studies in Conservation. In the article the author explains how a wrought iron anchor and a cast iron carronade from the wreck of HMS Sirius (1790) received In situ electrolysis treatment using sacrificial anodes in the shallow waters off Norfolk Island in the South Pacific Ocean.This pre-treatment stabilises the artifacts and ensures that they can be safely recovered and transported.

Monitoring on the seabed and in the laboratory showed that approximately 80% of the chlorides had been removed from the carronade before excavation. The cathodic
pre-treatment results in a significant improvement in the quality of the surface of the metals. He argues it is possible to maintain artifacts on the seabed by continued use of sacrificial anodes.

>> Read the full article for free

NEW EVENT: 47th Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology

The Society for Historical Archaeology (SHA) and the Advisory Council on Underwater Archaeology (ACUA) will hold their 47th Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology in Québec City, Canada, from January 8–12, 2014.

The Call for Papers opened on May 1, 2013.

The organizing committee has chosen the theme “Questions that count, a critical evaluation of historical archaeology in the 21st century”, which will permit the archaeological community to take the measure of its development over the past quarter century, all while spanning the transition into the new millennium.

The SHA first asked eminent archaeologists to identify questions that count at the plenary session of the 20th Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology in Savannah, Georgia, in 1987. We now pose this question to the broader archaeological community. The diverse sectors of the SHA and ACUA communities are invited to assess their progress, orientations and priorities. The responses may be very different from one sector to another, surprising some and confounding others. More importantly, it is crucial to allow each segment of our community to express its own views on the current and future situation of the discipline.

Historical archaeology has evolved both globally and locally. There has been a diverse integration of new technologies, forms of media, analytical methods, and participants. Community-based programs, public and descendant archaeology, and the experience of archaeological practice have all evolved over the last quarter century. To use antiquated parlance, dirt archaeologists are faced with a dizzying array of possibilities while they must still rise to the challenge of maintaining quality practice in an age of an explosion of sources and media. Other archaeologists are focused almost exclusively on analytical methods. How can we encourage best practices for all amidst a new array of questions that all seem to count?

Québec City is a place to rejoice in the old and explore the new as you can see in a recent special issue of Post-Medieval Archaeology (Volume 43, Part 1, 2009), “The Recent Archaeology of the Early Modern Period in Québec City”. One of the oldest cities in North America and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is also a hub for exploring new media and technology. Cutting-edge analytical methods available in local laboratories have permitted experimentation in local archaeology, and new technologies have been incorporated into the public presentation of some of our most significant sites. The city is also at the boundary of land and sea, wedged between Cap-aux-Diamants and the majestic St. Lawrence River, where an immigrant European population met with First Nations peoples during the 16th century. We propose themes that explore these boundaries while posing questions that count or that continue to count, and invite archaeologists from all communities to present new research in their archaeological practices.

The SHA and the ACUA help students participate in the annual conference. If you are a student, it’s time to start planning your participation in the 2014 conference. The conference theme, Questions that count, is of particular interest to you because you will be dealing with and working through these questions. This is an excellent opportunity to take part in defining your future! Start preparing your request for financial support through one of the many programs available from the SHA and the ACUA. For detailed information and application forms, visit the conference webpage.

William Moss
Conference Chair

NEW EVENT: Underwater Archaeology Summer School in Malta

3rd - 23rd June 2013

This twenty-day summer school is based on a balanced mix of practical experience, lectures, site visits and seminars. Excavation and survey work will be carried out on the site of a Roman shipwreck first excavated by Honor Frost in 1967. It is situated in shallow (-12 meters), clear and sheltered waters. Experts from the University of Malta and other professional agencies involved in heritage management an protection will contribute to this intensive and rewarding course.

Day to day Programme:

Day 1 Arrival

Day 2 Orientation Day

Day 3 Preparation of site - Frost's 1967 excavation

Day 4 Orientation dives - Work since 1967

Day 5 Laying of baselines-work on 'ELBOW' - Posidonoa Oceanica

Day 6 Elbow Conservation I

Day 7 Site Visit Maritime Museum - Afternoon off

Day 8 Elbow Conservation II

Day 9 Elbow - Underwater photography

Day 10 Setting up of grid on Area K, survey and searches underwater

Day 11 Area K - Harbour reconstruction

Day 12 Area K - Technical diving

Day 13 Site Visit Ancient Pottery Burmarrad

Day 14 Area K - Drawing artifacts

Day 15 Area K - Remote sensing I

Day 16 Area K - Remote sensing II

Day 17 Area K - Conservation III

Day 18 Demobilization of grid/raft-Student presentations

Day 19 Swim searches - Student presentations

Day 20 Site Visit Gozo: Xlendi Bay and Museum

Day 21 Farewell Dinner

Day 22 Depart

The summer school will be led by Dr Timmy Gambin from the University of Malta with the participation of Professor Jeremy Green. For further details about the summer school please consult the website.

Please send you enquiries to Mario Cassar at mario.l.cassar@um.edu.mt

Underwater archaeology: why is our submerged cultural heritage so important?



VIDEO: Spotlight on Underwater Archaeology

In the August 2012 issue of European Journal of Archaeology a special section was dedicated to research and heritage management in underwater archaeology. It provides an international perspective with overviews of maritime archaeology in Andalusia, France, Croatia and Turkey. The following is an extract from the issue's Editorial:

"Key themes shared by [the articles] include: the history of underwater archaeological research, conservation and museum projects since World War II; the ever-expanding parameters of what constitutes underwater archaeology; the ongoing threats to underwater heritage and the measures being taken to protect, manage and promote it; the importance of documenting underwater archaeological remains; and the strengths and weaknesses of related organizations that depend upon government funding.

Jonathan Benjamin and Alex Hale promote an inclusive approach to the study and management of underwater archaeological sites and landscapes found in a variety of
complementary maritime and inland environments, ranging from offshore to coastal, estuarine, riverine, and lacustrine. They emphasize the importance of prehistoric underwater archaeologies, which have attracted less than their fair share of attention from the underwater archaeological community, not to mention the wider public. They also highlight the network of archaeologists, marine geophysicists, environmental scientists, and commercial and industrial organizations that is currently collaborating, with European Science Foundation funding, to develop research on the prehistoric landscapes of the European continental shelf."

 

Dr Jonathan Benjamin, co-editor of the section, also kindly provided a video that gives a background to this popular topic and an introduction to the organisations that are working to discover, preserve and protect our submerged cultural heritage.

 

>> Watch the video on YouTube

 

>> Read the full editorial for free