on the web
Caroline Wickham-Jones surfs beneath the waves
Archaeology for the web-footed – Underwater Archaeology
If most of the earth is covered by water, why is 99% of the archaeology on land? It is a complex issue. We are only just awakening to the potential of underwater archaeology.
UnderwaterArchaeology.com provides links to a variety of web pages, together with limited information – it promises much but looks unfinished. The Nautical Archaeology Society, on the other hand, is clearly an active website, though there is little on what underwater archaeology might comprise, or, curiously, on how to buy the “much anticipated” handbook [see Books in printed magazine].
Most obviously, underwater archaeology relates to wrecks. Shipwrecks and planes occur in abundance in British waters, and both have long provided popular investigation sites. There is no shortage of websites relating to wreck archaeology, whether specific locations – Titanic has both virtual and “real” coverage – or commercial companies.
The maritime world that serves ships is also an important facet of marine archaeology. English Heritage has addressed the characterisation and recording of the integrated seascape through a pilot study of Liverpool Bay carried out by Wessex Archaeology. Other projects have recorded the integrated land and sea facilities of smaller areas, such as Southampton’s Centre for Maritime Archaeology. Ireland is well up on maritime heritage.
Some marine archaeology is accessible on foot. Around Britain the intertidal zone contains material from the earliest to recent times. Prehistoric sites are well covered, from general (Sefton coast) to academic (English Heritage on the Isle of Wight). Fish traps occur around Britain but are poorly represented (but see the CMA’s site on Blackwater Estuary, Essex).
The newcomer on the scene is the submerged landscape or site (Dorset; the North Sea). Past sea level change around Britain means that in many places the seabed was once dry land. During submergence many sites disappear, but some survive. The exciting thing is that many offer the potential to learn about periods that have otherwise been poorly represented on land. There is some nice science at Ireland’s SLAN, but much of the work to date takes place further afield (eg Australia).
It is important not to forget freshwater archaeology of which crannogs are perhaps the best known type of site.
Finally, there is the small matter of looking after everything. The UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage (2001) is about to come into force. In Britain matters are currently under discussion as part of the respective marine bills for the UK and Scotland. See also Maritime Heritage for links to the draft bill.
While plenty of websites relate to underwater archaeology, those with basic information are elusive. The Advisory Council on Underwater Archaeology is a notable exception. The BBC introduction is useful, but dated by its emphasis on wrecks. Advances in research and technology suggest that this is one field of archaeology that is set to expand.
Underwater Archaeology on the web
- Underwater Archaeology – www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/archeosm/en
- A magnificent French site that covers palaeolithic caves to shipwrecks, and conservation, prospection and excavation
- The Advisory Council on Underwater Archaeology – www.acuaonline.org
- Plenty of information and the odd pun, with enough links to keep you happy
- Nordic Underwater Archaeology – www.abc.se/~m10354/uwa
- Excellent content, and links and languages make a truly international site
- Great British Shipwrecks – www.shipwrecksofscotland.com
- A great holiday planning tool for venturing beneath the waves
- The Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund – www.wessexarch.co.uk/projects/marine/alsf/alsf_project_overview.html
- ALSF has benefited marine archaeology in English waters. There are many sites but Wessex Archaeology’s gives a good overview
Connecting with Surrey’s past
Andrew Larcombe and Giles Carey describe two new websites launched within weeks of each other
Surrey has a rich archaeological heritage. 2008 saw the launch of two state-of-the-art websites for those interested in the county’s archaeology: the Surrey Archaeological Society’s new website (www.surreyarchaeology.org.uk) and Surrey county council’s Exploring Surrey’s Past (www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk).
With nearly 1,000 members, the Surrey Archaeology Society is one of the largest and most active archaeological groups in the country. It hosts many events from lectures to excavations, publishes newsletters, monographs and journals, and houses a large lending library. To accommodate the society’s varied needs a new website based on the open source Drupal framework was created.
A key feature of any website is the ease by which information can be found. This is extremely important to the society, as the majority of new members come via the website. Information can be found using a straight-forward menu present on all pages, but also by the use of “tags”. When an editor creates content, it can be “tagged” with a number of terms allowing thematically similar content to be found – eg excavations organised by the Prehistoric Group might be tagged with the terms “prehistoric” and “fieldwork”. Clicking on the fieldwork tag lists all other pages that contain that tag. Pages are tagged by any combination of period, specialist group and event type, enabling visitors to quickly locate information of interest.
Another requirement for the new site was that the process of updating it should be devolved to each of the society’s specialist groups, who host events and carry out research in their areas of interest. Each group now has a website editor responsible for updating the information on their section of the site. Editors have the facility to create pages and event listings, by logging on and entering text and images using a simple word-processor embedded within their browser.
The society’s online presence extends beyond the new website though, and a number of technologies are used to exchange data with other online resources: a selection of historic images from the Society’s Flickr gallery and details of recent finds from the Portable Antiquities Scheme found in Surrey are automatically displayed on each page, and past PowerPoint presentations are available on the Society’s SlideShare account. RSS feeds enable users to “subscribe” to areas of the site, so that new and updated content is pushed out to them without their having directly to visit the site.
Meanwhile, Exploring Surrey’s Past (ESP) is a new HLF-funded online resource created by Surrey Heritage (part of Surrey County Council) and its partners. It aims to increase public awareness, involvement and interest in the array of archaeological, archive and local history information held with the historic environment record, local archives and selectedmuseums and history centres. ESP is also designed to be used as an educational resource with strong ties between key stage history and ICT learning.
ESP makes available thousands of records related to all aspects of Surrey’s past, including archaeological sites, chance finds, historic buildings and landscapes and historic images. Not only can you explore the site for information, but you can also have your say on content published on the site. The website actively encourages visitors to comment on pages, adding their own local knowledge, pictures and memories to help build up the site. Much of the its content has been written by local people.
A wide range of volunteers have also been busy behind the scenes, adding to, enhancing and checking our records before they get published online. Many have been working with digitisation projects, some with photographing sites and buildings, others recording and photographing objects from museums.
Together then, the ESP and the Surrey Archaeological Society websites are must-visit sites for anyone interested in the archaeology and history of Surrey.
Andrew Larcombe, a freelance software developer, produced the Surrey Archaeological Society's website. Giles Carey is project officer for ESP.