La Natière 1999/2008: What we have learnt from a Large, Multi-years French underwater excavation

Summary

From 1999 to 2008, a 10 years underwater archaeological excavation has been carried away, by French Ministry of Culture DRASSM and the ADRAMAR association, on two French Frigates sunk off St. Malo (France). One has been identified as the Dauphine, a light frigate built for privateering in the royal dockyard of Le Havre (1703) and sunk on December 1704. The other is known as the Aimable Grenot, a large frigate built in Granville for a private ship-owner (1747), armed for privateering then for trade before her wreckage on May 1749. The archaeological project has been carried out into a comparative and global study of La Natière site, in order to compare material culture, hull structures, supplies and outfitting of the two ships. After 10 years of fieldwork and while the publication process is engaged, the authors aim to analyse some of the key points of the project : funding, operations in the field, technical solutions, on site conservation, short and long term staff, presentation to the public, impact in terms of economy, local politic and formation’ This paper will discuss the lessons learned from this project as part of a larger discussion in the session on large-scale excavation

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014   •
• Lessons That Count: What We Have Learned From Large, Multi-Year Underwater Excavations

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-2,07