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This is a large and growing field that gets more technically advanced - and more expensive to pursue - by the year. It is also very clearly split between the commercial marine archaeologists, who do good work but always want to make their work pay for itself. And the pure academics, usually nationally funded, who are in principle above diving for treasure. In fact the two sides crossover a lot and the distinction is in practice often hard to make. A good introduction to the present state of the science is http://db.bbc.co.uk/history/archaeology/marine/further_1.shtml there are good links, though it is Western biased. For a comprehensive list of starting places for further enquiry http://dir.yahoo.com/social_science/anthropology_and_archaeology/archaeology/ is as usual an excellent site, though inevitably biased to where the money for so expensive a business can be found - the West. |
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A colourful site of one of the commercial teams is Malaysian based http://www.mingwrecks.com/ discoverers and excavators of the well-known Nanhai I and other Song and Ming dynasty wrecks. |
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A comprehensive, but rather dry and academic site covering the present technical field of archaeology is http://www.archaeolink.com/marine_archaeology.htm.Its Asia pages at http://www.archaeolink.com/asian_archaeology.htm deal with the most recent archaeological stories from Asia, though you have to hunt around for the very few connected with maritime archaeology! |
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Marine Archaeology in Asia |
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A companion website to a US Public Broadcasting System documentary on the excavation of a 14th century (Ming dynasty) wreck off the coast of Brunei, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sultan/archeology.html is a well-written and well-presented overview of the relatively scant list of scientifically recorded wrecks of historic indigenous ships in East and Southeast Asia
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The remarkable find of the wreck of a 9th century CE sewn Arab dhow in Indonesia, with its valuable Tang Dynasty cargo, is beautifully covered at http://maritime-explorations.com/belitung.htm
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An equally remarkable wreck, if for different reasons, is that of the junk Tek Sing, which was wrecked with over 2000 people aboard in 1822, see http://www.teksing.com/ |
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A good account of an early 14th century CE Chinese built vessel wrecked at Shinan in Korea, and a very important wreck for our understanding of ancient Chinese ships, is at http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/ships/html/. It is constructionally similar to the equally important late 13th century CE wreck found in Quanzhou, China. |
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You can also read about these wrecks and others at the excellent http://www.maritimeasia.ws
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If you have any questions related to underwater heritage sites, including shipwrecks, anchors, cannons, and areas of the seabed containing ceramics and other cultural material. Please visit, http://uwheritage.blogspot.com |
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Two quite good general sites are: http://vlib.anthrotech.com/Archaeology/Marine_Archaeology/ which has one or two useful links. And Tanya Rabourn's Guide to Underwater Archaeology Resources on the Internet at http://www.pophaus.com/underwater/ which deals with categories of onward links grouped under Institutes and Departments of Underwater Archaeology, Museums and Sites, Maritime History and Sailing, Underwater Archaeology Online, SCUBA and Tools for Underwater Archaeologists.
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http://www.munarchaeology.com/munarchaeology/news/main.htm offers an excellent round-up of recent news about on-going work
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Protecting the our marine heritage
http://www.hkuhgroup.com/cms/ |
