The Barque South Australian: Discovery and Documentation of South Australia’s Oldest Known Shipwreck

Summary

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

In early 2018, a collaborative team comprising maritime archaeologists, museum specialists and volunteers from the South Australian Department for Environment and Water (DEW), South Australian Maritime Museum, Silentworld Foundation, Australian National Maritime Museum, MaP Fund and Flinders University surveyed for and located the shipwreck site of the barque South Australian. Lost at Rosetta Harbor (present-day Encounter Bay) South Australia in December 1837, South Australian is South Australia’s oldest documented shipwreck. Its significance also derives from its use as one of the earliest immigration ships to ferry European settlers to the colony of South Australia, as well as careers as a postal packet and ‘cutting-in’ vessel for shore-based whaling activities. This paper will discuss the effort to locate South Australian, as well as archaeological fieldwork that has taken place at the wreck site subsequent to its discovery.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

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

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 714