NAUTICAL ARCHAEOLOGY, 19.3

to ensure that all the components leading up to the summary statement are translated in their entirety. Otherwise, the translator cannot cope. In the field, quick instructions require an equally quick translation, which means that the translator has at all times to be where the instructor is.

Results As with any group of students, varying levels of motivation and ability are reflected in individual results. The programme was most rewarding from the author’s point of view, as the amount of work completed in the allocated time far exceeded expectations. Notwithstanding differ-

ences in cultural backgrounds and limitations imposed by climate and equipment, we were able to achieve the main aims. The students became aware of the problems associated with under- water work through direct experience and were ready to be introduced to ways to overcome these in following training sessions. They reached a level where they could dive safely on a shallow site and carry out simple instructions.

Karen A tkinson-Millar c/o Department of Maritime Archaeology,

Western Australian Maritime Museum, Cliff Street, Fremantle, Western Australia 6160

Prospects for marine archaeology in South Asia

The Archaeological Survey of Ceylon com- menced in 1890 when my grandfather, H. C. P. Bell, a civil servant, was seconded to act as the first Archaeological Commissioner. To celebrate the centenary of the survey an International Seminar was held in Colombo from 7 to 13 July 1990, entitled ‘Towards the Second Century of Archaeology in Sri Lanka’. The papers, printed in six volumes, were available to participants at the conference and covered many aspects of Sri Lankan and South Asian archaeology, epigraphy and iconography, and looked forward to poss- ible future developments. Although marine archaeology was not the main theme, three papers were wholly devoted to it and others dealt with contiguous matters such as the role of Sri Lanka in the trade between East and West. The ‘Excavations at Mantai’ in the north of Sri Lanka, curtailed by the continuing Tamil insur- rection, which were described by John Carswell, were particularly fruitful in this respect.

The three papers directly concerned with marine archaeology were ‘The Search for the Maritime Heritage’ by Somasiri Devendra, ‘Developing Programmes for Maritime Archae- ological Survey’ by Mark Redknap, and ‘The Emergence of Marine Archaeology in South Asia and Prospects for Regional Co-operation’ by E. V. Gangadharam.

In their different ways these papers all dealt with perennial problems facing those concerned to establish the use of underwater exploration as

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a necessary tool for the archaeologist. There is the need to show that it can add new facts and a new dimension to research; there is the need to awaken public opinion to this; there is the necessity to set up organizations, governmental and private, to protect the maritime heritage and there is the need to select and pursue individual projects.

Devendra outlined the growing awareness of the importance of maritime archaeology in Sri Lanka, the setting up by Parliament of the National Aquatic Resources Agency, and the creation of the Maritime Heritage Trust. The aims of the Trust were comprehensive but there was a long way to go before resources would be available to carry them through. However, he described some projects which had been set in motion. Investigations had been made into some ancient Sri Lankan logboats, found in riverine locations, and a study commenced of various types of cannon, mainly of Dutch or British make, found in the island. With the co-operation of the Sri Lankan Sub-Aqua Club, artefacts found in the harbour at Galle had been recorded, and there had been a site investigation survey off Colombo. Dr Devendra concluded that work in this field was only in its early stages and that considerable support was needed from government sources to ensure progress.

Dr Redknap’s paper gave fuller details of the bathymetric survey off Colombo, undertaken early in 1990 at the ‘Drunken Sailor’ site. By

NOTES

describing the growth of concern for nautical archaeology in England and the gradual devel- opment of underwater cultural heritage manage- ment, he suggested that the problems facing Sri Lanka were not unique. He laid particular stress on the need to set up an organized programme of data collection, to provide facilities for training and for conservation, and to ensure co- operation between official and amateur bodies.

E. V. Gangadharam considered the great range of marine archaeology to include all aspects of man’s activities relating to the sea and to cover the exploration of submerged sites, the documentation of marine trade and socioethno- logical study of sea-faring communities, as well as the excavation and retrieval of shipwrecks. He surveyed the various establishments in different parts of India concerned with the subject and the conferences which had taken place in recent years. He described some of the work done in

Gujerat, Tamilnadu, Andhara Pradesh, West Bengal and Orissa.

He pointed out that marine archaeology had revealed not only trade links between India and Sri Lanka, but also Buddhist religious links. He concluded with a strong appeal for co-operation between marine archaeologists all over South Asia and the sharing of resources, mentioning for example the potentialities of the proposed centre for the identification, treatment and conservation of waterlogged wood to be set up at Andhara University.

This was but one example of the stress laid in many speeches at the Seminar on the vital importance of the development of conservation techniques.

Heather Bell, 7 Egliston Road,

London SWl5 1AL. UK

1989 underwater archaeological investigations at the Shoals Marine Laboratory, Appledore Island, Maine

The Isles of Shoals lie approximately 8 miles off the coast of the border of Maine and New Hampshire; their exact location and history may be found in Farrell(l984) and Farrel and Harrington (1987). During Shoals’ 1989 under- water archaeology course, 11 students were given the opportunity to participate in field- work, the results of which are discussed below. The season at Shoals ran from 14 to 21 August, during which time an area of 24 x 12 m between Malaga Island and Smuttynose Island was searched and surveyed by scuba divers and snorkellers. An area off the SEcoast ofAppledore Island was also examined in order to determine whether a cleft in the rock here might have been used as a docking area for boats, and if so, whether there was some relationship between the area and Site 2, a small drystone foundation, discussed by Farrell and Harrington (1987). The overriding concern here was the attempt to recover evidence of the use of the island, its shoreline and adjacent underwater ambience during the period of settlement and intensive use early in the 16th century. Past wave action and storm disturbance hinder this task, as does the

rising sea level which has encroached on the land by approximately 1 m since AD 1600.

In the area of Haley Cove two baselines were set up, each 20 m long running north-south. The area between these lines was found to contain several sections of massive iron chains, a possible anchor and a large iron angle bracket. Some sort of transmission or engine and two large iron rings were noted lying in the sediment to the NE, just outside the surveyed area. None of these finds were removed since the purpose of the course was instruction in the basics of search and survey without disturbing sites. Since a partly submerged drystone structure stands close to the seawall which connects Malaga and Smuttynose Islands, the area immediately surrounding seemed likely to contain ceramic sherds or other objects of interest. Accordingly, this area was searched for items which might be datable through comparison with the collections of the Strawberry Banke museum in Portsmouth, NH. It was felt that the removal of such items from a stratigraphically mixed area would not be a loss to the archaeological history of the island and would allow students to learn about the study

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