Reconnaissance Survey of Ultra-Deepwater Shipwrecks and the Maritime Archaeological Landscape of the Gulf of Mexico

Summary

This is a paper/report submission presented at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

High-resolution geophysical surveys required by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) in advance on oil industry activities have resulted in the discovery of several hundred shipwreck sites well offshore in the ultra-deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf. Public, academic, and Federal interest in these sites, coupled with the availability and affordability of remotely operated vehicle, ship, and telepresence technology in the past two decades, have allowed for Phase I investigation of many of these sites. Archaeologists from BOEM and other Federal/State agencies and academic institutions have scientifically investigated early 19th century shipwrecks and several WWII casualties among others, the results of which have been presented at previous SHA conferences. This paper explores how these reconnaissance investigations in aggregate affect our understanding of the maritime archaeological landscape of the Gulf of Mexico.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• 2020 SHA General Sessions   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2020

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 530