Academia, Consultancy and Government (I): An Introspective Look at Underwater Archaeology in Practice

Part of: Society for Historical Archaeology 2014

Underwater archaeology as a discipline is changing as new university Master’s and Doctoral programs generate trained professional archaeologists working for universities, consulting firms and government bodies. After 50 years of underwater archaeology, these sectors have created reciprocal relationships with one another, so that research practices and questions are influenced by a host of different factors. The papers presented in this session will examine expectations, roles, and best (realistic) practice to create a dialogue between academia, managers, and consultancies. Underwater archaeology is being shaped by these myriad influences, and these relationships will continue to have an impact on the future of professional archaeology underwater in different countries/regions.

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  • Documents (6)
Documents
  • Academia in Underwater Archaeology (2014)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Elizabeth Benchley.

    This paper will explore the opportunities and constraints placed on academic programs that include underwater archaeology in a research and/or applied curriculum. While opportunities for new directions may abound, constraints on funding, staffing, curriculum development, and return on investment are real and inhibit sustained change. The conservative nature of academic program accreditation, and its impact on multidisciplinary programs, will be addressed.

  • Bridging the Three Cultures: Commercial Archaeology, Academia and Government in the Study of the Past (2014)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Joseph Flatman.

    In 2006 the prehistorian Richard Bradley wrote what became a seminal paper in the Antiquaries Journal entitled ‘Bridging the Two Cultures’ on the relationship between academic and commercial archaeology. Some eight years later, this paper builds on Bradley’s conclusions to consider not just the two-way relationship between academia and commercial archaeology, but the three-way relationship between academia, commercial archaeology and government. Bradley optimistically concluded that better...

  • Considering Contexts and Significance for Submerged Terrestrial Resources (2014)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Ramie Gougeon.

    Training new archaeologists for roles in compliance-oriented archaeology is a balancing act of imparting a great deal of technical and methodological know-how while also developing a working and robust understanding of anthropological theory. This is especially the case for students who may be working on submerged terrestrial sites, as making arguments for or against site significance will need to expand beyond remarkable site-preservation or, in the case of off-shore sites, rarity. This paper...

  • Precontact Archaeology on the Outer Continental Shelf: Site Identification Practices and the Regulatory Environment (2014)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Brandi Carrier.

    One of the regulatory responsibilities of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Office of Renewable Energy Programs is to identify submerged precontact sites and protect them through avoidance or mitigation under the auspices of the National Historic Preservation Act. But submerged precontact sites on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) aren’t exactly easy to identify. BOEM is tasked with establishing scientifically rigorous and defensible guidelines for developers to conduct...

  • Wet and Dry: the Archaeology of Basque and Inuit Pioneers at Hare harbor, Petit Mecatina, on the Quebec Lower North shore (2014)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Jonathan Benjamin.

    Since Red Bay much information on 16th C.Basque whaling has become available. However, few sites have been excavated intensively, and none shed light on post-1600 activities. Hare Harbor-1 provides information on a 17th/early 18th C. fishing station of probable French Basque origin. Like Red Bay, the site offers land and underwater deposits, with the latter especially rich in organic and ceramic remains. The land site includes both Basque and Inuit structures, an industrial charcoal production...

  • What Comes Next? Training & Technology in Underwater Archaeology (2014)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Alex Lehning.

    An archaeological field school is a professional learning experience that, for most students in the field, is one of the first steps towards officially beginning a career. For nautical archaeologists in particular, this critical component of their training and development is especially important. In addition to documentation skills and methodology, there is another level of competencies and techniques required to ensure safety in a challenging occupational environment. There has been a steady...