Beached: A Survey of Scientific Diving’s Response to COVID-19

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Adaptation and Alteration: The New Realities of Archaeology during a Pandemic" , at the 2021 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

In early 2020, scientific diving programs in the United States and elsewhere all but ceased operations as a novel coronavirus spread across the global community. While some programs were required to halt fieldwork, others were forced to eventually adapt to new personal health and safety needs to complete essential tasks. To better understand the situation of scientific diving in 2020, especially as it regards archaeological fieldwork, surveys were sent to established programs with and without membership in the American Academy of Underwater Sciences, the Canadian Association for Underwater Science, and the European Scientific Diving Panel. Dive safety administrators were asked about their response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including if and how they are operating, changes to standard procedures, and whether there are any expectations for resuming regular functions. This paper analyzes survey responses in addition to highlighting unique strategies for adapting diving operations to conduct fieldwork.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Adaptation and Alteration: The New Realities of Archaeology during a Pandemic   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2021

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology