Australian Archaeology

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Australian Archaeology

Archived at Flinders University: dspace.flinders.edu.au

Full Citation Details:

Green, Jeremy & Henderson, Graeme 1974. Marine Archaeology at

the Western Australian Museum. 'Australian Archaeology', no.1,

15-17.

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MARINE ARCHAEOLOGY AT THE WESTERN AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM

The Museum Act (1969) g i v e s l e g a l p r o t e c t i o n t o v e s s e l s wrecked o r s t r a n d e d b e f o r e 1900. The Marine Archaeology Department h a s d i v i d e d t h e wrecks i n t o two h i s t o r i c a l groupings, t h e pre- s e t t l e m e n t wrecks (1622 t o 1829) and t h e c o l o n i a l wrecks (1829 t o 1900).

A. The p r e - s e t t l e m e n t wrecks.

There a r e f i v e such wrecks known o f f t h e West A u s t r a l i a n c o a s t . The T r i a l (1622) i s t h e o l d e s t known wreck i n A u s t r a l i a n w a t e r s . She w a s an English East Indiaman, bound f o r B a t a v i a when l o s t on t h e T r i a l Rocks, an i s o l a t e d r e e f n o r t h of t h e Monte B e l l o group of i s l a n d s . The Museum h a s c a r r i e d o u t a survey of t h i s s i t e .

The BatavCa (1629) was t h e f l a g s h i p of a f l e e t of Dutch E a s t Indiamen s a i l i n g t o Batavia. She was l o s t on t h e Abrolhos group of i s l a n d s i n June, 1629. The s t o r y of t h e mutiny and massacre subsequent t o t h e wreck make t h i s one of t h e most g h a s t l y c h a p t e r s i n t h e h i s t o r y of t h e Dutch t r a d i n g empire i n t h e East.

The Museum c a r r i e d o u t o v e r l a s t summer a f i v e month e x c a v a t i o n of t h i s wreck. This f i r s t season of major e x c a v a t i o n h a s shown t h e s i t e t o be very r i c h

a r c h a e o l o g i c a l l y , and, s o f a r , t h e m o s t important wreck on t h e c o a s t of Western A u s t r a l i a .

Before e x c a v a t i o n s t a r t e d a photogrammetric survey was made of t h e s i t e . A l l subsequent excavation p l a n s were based on t h i s . A t r i a l e x c a v a t i o n was commenced a t t h e s t e r n of t h e v e s s e l , p r i m a r i l y t o recover a group of b u i l d i n g blocks b u t a l s o t o determine whether any of t h e s h i p ' s timbers had s u r v i v e d i n t h e deeper l e v e l s of t h e s i t e . A t o t a l of 120 b u i l d i n g b l o c k s were recovered, weighing about 27 tons. These appear t o be p a r t o f t h e facade of a b u i l d i n g , p o s s i b l y a p o r t i c o .

Timber was l o c a t e d i n one a r e a and was uncovered. I t soon became obvious t h a t we were d e a l i n g w i t h an e x t e n s i v e i n t a c t s e c t i o n of t h e s h i p ' s h u l l , a s t h e r e were t h i c k frames and planking. The exposed timber was c l e a r e d of c o r a l and f l o a t i n g weed d e b r i s , and each plank i n d i v i d u a l l y tagged.

A photomosaic w a s made of the timber a s each p i e c e was removed.

Excavation was i n t e r r u p t e d b e f o r e a l l t h e timber was recovered, and i t i s hoped t o r a i s e t h e remainder next season. The timber r a i s e d , measuring 8 m e t r e s by 5 m e t r e s , was re-photographed on l a n d , and matched w i t h t h e 1 : 10 photomosaics. The i n i t i a l r e s u l t s i n d i c a t e t h a t we w i l l be a b l e t o r e - c o n s t r u c t o v e r 90% of t h e timber s o f a r recovered.

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Among t h e many thousands of i n d i v i d u a l a r t i f a c t s recovered were ceramic m a t e r i a l , coins, n a v i g a t i o n a l i n s t r u m e n t s , ordnance, s h o t , s h i p ' s f i t t i n g s and cargo items. D e t a i l e d d e s c r i p t i o n s of t h e m a t e r i a l cannot be g i v e n h e r e , b u t we a l r e a d y have one of t h e l a r g e s t and most s i g n i f i c a n t c o l l e c t i o n s of m a t e r i a l from a n e a r l y s e v e n t e e n t h c e n t u r y wreck i n t h e world.

It became i n c r e a s i n g l y obvious when working i n t h i s f i e l d t h a t i t i s a matter of archaeology and h i s t o r y working together. The archaeology o f t h e wreck s i t e can p r o v i d e information t h a t i s not normally a v a i l a b l e t o t h e h i s t o r i a n . The h i s t o r i c a l and a r c h i v a l background can b r i n g the

a r c h a e o l o g i c a l work i n t o a much c l e a r e r p e r s p e c t i v e . The VerguZde Draeck (1656) w a s a yacht of t h e Dutch E a s t I n d i a Company, l o s t about 110 k i l o m e t r e s n o r t h of P e r t h . I n 1972 t h e Museum completed a major e x c a v a t i o n s e a s o n on t h i s s i t e . A preliminary r e p o r t h a s been p u b l i s h e d

(J. N a u t i c a l Archaeology No.2) and an a r t i c l e on t h e ceramic m a t e r i a l i s i n p u b l i c a t i o n . Four more major a r t i c l e s a r e planned, covering t h e organic m a t e r i a l , t h e h i s t o r i c a l background, t h e metal a r t i f a c t s , t h e armament, and t h e s h i p and i t s f i t t i n g s .

The Zuyt&rp (1712), l i e s a t t h e b a s e of a c l i f f , and i s both d i f f i c u l t and dangerous t o d i v e on. So f a r o n l y two b r i e f recovery e x p e d i t i o n s have been made t o t h i s s i t e . The Zeemjck (1727), was l o s t i n t h e Southern Group of t h e Abrolhos I s l a n d s , and much o f t h e wreck was salvaged by t h e s u r v i v o r s . Because of t h e d i f f i c u l t i e s involved i n working t h e s i t e only reconnaissance e x p e d i t i o n s have been undertaken.

B. The Colonial Wrecks.

Numerically t h e pre-settlement wrecks make up l e s s t h a n one percent of t h e wrecks on t h e W.A. c o a s t . Over 1000 v e s s e l s a r e recorded a s having been wrecked between 1829 and 1900, t h e l i m i t of t h e l e g i s l a t i o n .

This circumstance d i c t a t e s t h e n a t u r e of t h e work being done on t h e Colonial wrecks. Much of t h e work h a s taken t h e n a t u r e of an a r c h a e o l o g i c a l f i e l d survey. A c a r d catalogue lists t h e d e t a i l s of a l l v e s s e l s r e p o r t e d t o have been wrecked off Western A u s t r a l i a . Only a s m a l l proportion of t h e s e wrecks have been found.

The l e g i s l a t i o n r e q u i r e s a person f i n d i n g a wreck t o r e p o r t i t t o t h e Museum. Museum s t a f f t h e n i n s p e c t t h e wreck s i t e t o record i t s p o s i t i o n , t a k e samples f o r i d e n t i f i c a t i o n , and e v a l u a t e the s i t e ' s p o t e n t i a l f o r f u t u r e e x c a v a t i o n . Where i t i s decided t h a t a wreck i s of h i s t o r i c a l importance i t is v e s t e d under t h e Act t o g i v e i t g r e a t e r p r o t e c t i o n .

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Whereas t h e Dutch Wrecks Programme i s i n t e n s i v e : one major e x c a v a t i o n p e r y e a r w i t h r e s e a r c h a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h a t e x c a v a t i o n , t h e C o l o n i a l Wrecks Programme i s

e x t e n s i v e , and s o f a r no wreck has been f u l l y excavated.

I n t e r e s t i n g r e s u l t s have been achieved d u r i n g t h e p r o c e s s o f i d e n t i f y i n g s e v e r a l of t h e e a r l i e r C o l o n i a l wrecks.

The wreck a t C o t t e s l o e beach, long thought t o have been e v i d e n c e of pre-Dutch d i s c o v e r y of A u s t r a l i a by t h e

P o r t u g u e s e , h a s been i d e n t i f i e d a s a s m a l l A u s t r a l i a n owned b a r q u e , t h e E l i z a b e t h , wrecked i n 1839. The A u s t r a l i a n S o c i e t y f o r H i s t o r i c a l Archaeology i s a t p r e s e n t p u b l i s h i n g a monograph on t h i s wreck. The a n a l y s i s of wreckage found a t Carnac I s l a n d h a s a l s o been p r o d u c t i v e . P r e v i o u s l y thought t o have been from a s e a l i n g v e s s e l , t h e s e a r t i f a c t s have now been shown t o have come from t h e s t r a n d i n g of t h e H.M.S.

Success i n November, 1829, t h u s being t h e e a r l i e s t C o l o n i a l wreckage y e t found i n Western A u s t r a l i a . Captain James S t i r l i n g used t h e Success f o r h i s survey of t h e Swan River i n 1827, which l e d t o t h e s e t t l e m e n t b e i n g made i n 1829.

An a r t i c l e on t h e i d e n t i f i c a t i o n has r e c e n t l y been submitted t o t h e Mariners Mimr.

E x c a v a t i o n i s i n p r o g r e s s on t h e wreck of t h e E g l i n t o n , a B r i t i s h b a r q u e wrecked i n 1852 w i t h a g e n e r a l cargo f o r t h e merchants o f Fremantle. Very l i t t l e remains of t h e s h i p i t s e l f b u t a l a r g e q u a n t i t y of ceramic m a t e r i a l , glassware and m e t a l i t e m s from t h e c a r g o have been a i r l i f t e d from p o t h o l e s i n t h e l i m e s t o n e r e e f . E x t r a c t s from t h e m a n i f e s t show t h a t a l a r g e p r o p o r t i o n of t h e merchants of t h e colony had consignments on b o a r d , s o t h e m a t e r i a l g i v e s a c r o s s s e c t i o n of some of t h e s o r t s of goods used i n t h e i n f a n t colony.

Another wreck r e c e n t l y found i s t h e James Matheus, a b r i g wrecked i n 1841 w i t h a c a r g o d s l a t e s and g e n e r a l s u p p l i e s . The s i t e w a s found by members of t h e Underwater E x p l o r e r s Club, who had been s e a r c h i n g f o r t h e wreck f o r a number of y e a r s . A t p r e s e n t a s u r v e y of t h e s i t e i s being c a r r i e d o u t by members of t h e c l u b under t h e s u p e r v i s i o n of Marine Archaeology s t a f f . Following t h i s a m e t a l d e t e c t o r survey w i l l b e c a r r i e d o u t and c l u b members w i l l a s s i s t i n a l i m i t e d e x c a v a t i o n of t h e s i t e .

The C o l o n i a l Wreck Programme r e l i e s upon t h e c o o p e r a t i o n of t h e d i v i n g p u b l i c of Western A u s t r a l i a . With s o many s i t e s s c a t t e r e d o v e r such a l o n g c o a s t l i n e Museum s t a f f look t o d i v e r s t o r e p o r t s i t e s and t o show Museum d i v e r s how t o g e t t h e r e . S e v e r a l groups of d i v e r s a r e a t p r e s e n t b e i n g t r a i n e d i n s u r v e y t e c h n i q u e s i n a programme aimed a t a c t i v e involvement.

Jeremy Green Graeme Henderson