Is the Pattern Really Full?: Asking Questions That Count In The Archaeology of Sunken Aircraft

In an effort to help progress the field of historical archaeology, we must constantly reevaluate the questions that we ask ourselves during our fieldwork and as we attempt to interpret the results. As with sunken aircraft sites, many factors affect the aircraft long before it has even settled on the seafloor, and these are often the first questions that need answering. These factors may include the pilots actions before ditching or crashing to the water surface, whether or not the plane floated before sinking, and what the orientation of the plane was upon impact with the water. Questions like these will arise well before the field documentation, and based on published reports of sunken aircraft archaeology, these questions and answers have been well addressed by the archaeologists interpreting these sites. However, what archaeological questions or theories are we applying to the site themselves that may differ from shipwrecks or other submerged sites? Do we, can we, or need we formulate new methods and theories for studying sunken aircraft? In this session, we hope to explore these questions and evaluate whether or not we are asking the questions that count for sunken aircraft archaeology.