Vanikoro escape: The archaeological potential of the La Perouse expedition survivor craft

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

When the two ships of the French exploratory expedition under La Perouse were wrecked in Vanuatu in 1788, the survivors built another vessel from salvaged components and attempted to sail back to France. They never made it, and the expedition was lost without trace until the shipwrecks were discovered in Vanuatu in 1827. The fate of the survivors and their improvised craft has been theorized since, but no confirmed traces have been found. Recently uncovered documentary evidence suggested the survivor craft was wrecked on the barrier reef fronting Murray Island (Mer) in Torres Strait while attempting to reach the Dutch East Indies. This paper presents a feasibility study of the escape voyage from Vanikoro and identifies the probable wreck site. The survivor craft shipwreck should be detectable on the barrier reef and has the potential to enlighten this early and prominent example of European survivor contact in Australia.  

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SHA 2022 General Sessions   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2022

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology