Florida State University
Research in Underwater Archaeology

This report details the investigation of an early 16th century shipwreck near Stockholm, Sweden. The site lies between 30 and 56m, and was first identified as the ship Lybska Svan (Swan of Lubeck), the huge carvel-built flagship of Gustav Eriksson Vasa, the man who ejected the Danes from Sweden in 1523 and became King. Beginning in 1991, Southampton began an archaeological project to excavate and document the shipwreck, and this online article is the interim report of research conducted so far.

Nossa Senhora dos Mártires was a Portuguese spice trader wrecked in 1606 against the rocks of São Julião da Barra on its return from Cochin. This article, by Francisco J. S. Alves of Portugal's Centro Nacional de Arqueologia Náutica e Subaquática, deals with the Mártires specifically but also traces the development of Iberian ship construction techniques and overviews a wide range of archaeological evidence. The article was originally published in the book Nossa Senhora dos Mártires: the last Voyage (Expo'98), and is presented here on the internet by the Nordic Underwater Archaeology Webpage.

This online article discusses the excavation and conservation of artifacts recovered from the wreck believed to be that of the Industry, a British merchant vessel lost at St. Augustine, Florida. It is one of the reports presented on the Texas A&M University's Conservation and Research Laboratory webpage.

This online article discusses the excavation and conservation of artifacts recovered from the wreck believed to be that of the Industry, a British merchant vessel lost at St. Augustine, Florida. It is one of the reports presented on the Texas A&M University's Conservation and Research Laboratory webpage.

This report discusses the use of firepots, a specialized from of thrown incendiary weaponry. Firepots are earthenware vessels filled with combustibles used as a missile, and were regularly used in naval warfare in the 16th and 17th centuries. The article overviews the history of these unique weapons. In addition, a number of archaeological examples are discussed--from the 1588 Armada wreck La Trinidad Valencera, the late 17th century Portuguese ship Santo Antonio de Tanna, as well as the 17th century French vessel La Belle. The techniques for conserving such artifacts are also outlined.

The issue of ethnicity has been little considered by British post-medieval archaeology. Archaeology has unique access to evidence of the role of material culture in the expression and negotiation of historical identities. This paper aims to provide a theoretical framework for the study of ethnicity in the context of the history and archaeology of the Atlantic slave trade.

Fred McGhee, in a strongly worded article, looks 'Towards A Postcolonial Nautical Archaeology'. Taking a stance which is critical of the way in which marine archaeology has unconsciously reproduced histories redolent with colonial agendas, he draws on Said's work on 'orientalism' to argue that there are many other versions of the past to be told.

The 1998 Postmedieval Iberian Ship Archaeology was held by the National Center for Nautical and Underwater Archaeology in Lisbon. This webpage lists the papers presented and has texts of these papers online. The articles discuss shipbuilding and nautical archaeology, primarily for Iberian ships of the 16th century.