Issue 107

July / August 2009

Contents

news

Scottish dig has big surprise in the post

Urine to navel fluff: the first complete witch bottle

Celtic tankard adds value to Welsh treasure

In the press

In Brief & Phase 2

features

on the web

Recommended websites
Websites of univeristy archaeology departments and a community site for Digging Vindolanda.

letters

your views and responses

CBA Correspondent

Some recent projects benefiting from Challenge Funding.

my archaeology

Simon McBurney is a writer and actor; his father, archaeologist Charles

ISSN 1357-4442

Editor Mike Pitts

letters

Young archaeologists

View from the sea

Greg Stemm

It is gratifying to see British Archaeology willing to publish different views on Odyssey's projects ( features May/Jun). However, it is important to make sure that we are debating facts, not hearsay. Robert Yorke's article unfortunately contains incorrect information. I would like to set the record straight.

1. His assertion that archaeology was addressed in the Sussex agreement only after news of this broke is wrong. Some of the UK's most noted underwater archaeologists as well as the DCMS, English Heritage, the Archaeological Dive Unit and even the Nautical Archaeology Society were actively involved in addressing the protocols long before the agreement was signed. Odyssey always follows strict archaeological protocols, whether required to by law or not – not because of insistence by a government agency.
2. The UK is not a signatory to the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage 2001, but we considered all its archaeological protocols in the Sussex agreement. I was a delegate in the negotiations that led to the convention, and was sensitive to the issues addressed. Contrary to Yorke's assertion, the Sussex agreement does NOT rely on the sale of artefacts.
3. Our business MoDel's sustainability is a risk and reward evaluation made by sophisticated investors who have significant familiarity with our business. A reading of Nassim Taleb's The Black Swan (Allen Lane 2007), would acquaint readers with the principle, which anticipates long lead time investments with appropriately compensatory rewards – similar to the bio-tech industry. What is the alternative for managing shipwreck heritage? One that relies 100% on taxpayer pounds, or leaves underwater cultural heritage to be destroyed? Is that really more sustainable in these tough times? I would consider the real possibility that most taxpayers would approve of a private sector option that would lessen the tax burden while providing the best archaeology and educational opportunities.
4. Yorke's opinion that HMS Victory's site has reached equilibrium is based on limited data. Our extensive investigation shows that not only has the site seen damage from trawling, but that this is likely to continue. We have just published a report that includes significantly more information.
5. Yorke maintains, after viewing the Discovery Channel TV special, that "diagnostic cannon were clearly identifiable on the seabed. No excavation was needed". Experts and archaeologists appointed by the UK government felt otherwise. After predisturbance photomosaics, video and volumes of data were furnished, the MoD agreed that we should recover the cannon and conduct trial trenching to verify the site's identity.

It's obvious that Mr Yorke shares our concern for the preservation and protection of underwater cultural heritage. We have different approaches – and there is certainly room for debate. However honest debate cannot take place when innuendo and false information are used in place of facts.

A quick review of UK underwater cultural heritage suggests that current policies are simply not working. As English Heritage's own statistics verify, 42% of UK shipwreck sites are at high or medium risk, and there are simply not sufficient funds to remedy this.Shipwrecks already under the supervision of government agencies are falling prey to marine construction, dredging, nature, trawlers and looters. Knowledge is being lost – and future generations will suffer.

Greg Stemm, CEO Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc, Tampa, Florida

Ellen Gerth

Colin Martin suggests we do not publish much about our "non-valuable" shipwreck artefacts (Letters May/Jun). In addition to the scientific articles recently published on site E82 and HMS Victory, we have an ambitious plan for an initial series of eight articles and a book scheduled for the next year. An example of Odyssey's educational and publishing projects is our travelling exhibition, where artefacts include a conserved leather shoe (contrary to Martin's suggestion that we would not "extol the worth of shoes"). More than a quarter million people in four museums have enjoyed this exhibition. How many humble shoes can boast such a celebratory record?

Another example is the 14,000 artefacts excavated by Odyssey from the SS Republic, a sidewheel steamer lost in 1865 in 500m depth off Georgia. Our team recovered over 8,000 glass and stoneware bottles, which are contributing to our understanding of medicine, food consumption, beauty/hygiene and daily life in depressed New Orleans at the end of the American civil war. To this may be added 576 keys, spoons, spurs, flat irons, scissors, axe heads, door hinges and locks, files and harmonicas gently teased out of concretions, with the exact positioning of each piece carefully recorded. Like the ship's Welsh writing slate cargo, a number of the artefacts emanate from the UK, and provide an unparalleled witness to the origins and forms of imports circulating at the time.

Study of these artefacts is a core part of our archaeological practice and our obligation to the public and science. We do not sell these cultural collections, even though we have every legal right to do so, but only duplicate manufactured items such as coins, duplicate bottles or pieces of coal, maintaining documentation including high resolution photos of every coin.

We hope that readers will research our operations with an open mind. We welcome feedback on our website.

Ellen Gerth, Curator of Collections Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc, Tampa, Florida

Sean Kingsley

Odyssey has recorded 112 shipwrecks in the English Channel with direct evidence of deep-sea fishing impacts. Of these, Wreck Watch has identified 10 wooden sites as of archaeological importance that warrant rapid attention. If just a mid-17th century merchant vessel and HMS Victory are subjected to further survey and excavation, we will have saved for future generations less than 1% of the rich maritime heritage found so far. In what way is this factual respect for our shared past emotive or unrealistic?

Sean Kingsley, Director of Wreck Watch International, London

Trade in heritage wrong

Sue Davies

I read with great interest the articles on our underwater heritage (May/Jun). I would, however, like to make one correction to Chris Preece's letter, where he says that "commercial firms have been willing to work with Odyssey", Wessex Archaeology amongst them.

Wessex Archaeology was asked to serve as HM government representative in respect of the Sussex after the salvage agreement between HMG and Odyssey had been signed. In the terms of our engagement we made it completely clear that we did not accept the overall rationale of the agreement, namely funding the investigation of a wreck of archaeological importance on the basis of the anticipated sale of recovered material. We also made it clear that our role should not be taken to imply the legitimacy of the approach being taken in respect of the Sussex, or of salvage-based approaches to underwater cultural heritage in general.

As has also been reported, Wessex Archaeology is providing technical advice to HMG in respect of the Victory. As with the Sussex, this includes contact with Odyssey, and our relations with the company are business-like.

As a registered organisation of the Institute for Archaeologists, Wessex Archaeology is resolutely committed to the ethical principles that underpin archaeology. We strongly support the government's adoption of the annex of the 2001 UNESCO convention. This states that commercial exploitation for trade or speculation is fundamentally incompatible with the protection and proper management of underwater cultural heritage.

Sue Davies, Chief Executive of Wessex Archaeology, Salisbury

Out at night

Dave Ferguson

If the archaeological community cannot ensure the preservation of a marine site through lack of resources, then companies such as Odyssey Marine Exploration need to be brought into the fold. I would wager that Odyssey could provide many solutions to issues raised by critics. But nighthawkers are thieves (feature May/Jun), and they and those selling hawked artefacts need the warning of tighter legislation and harsher punishments. All too often the line between the hawker and detectorist is blurred: many detectorists do much to forward archaeological research.

Dave E Ferguson, Wakefield

Beth Barham

What has that glorious bird – the hawk – done to annoy the archaeological community so much that this is a designation given over to thieves? Here is my suggestion. These people are Finds And ARtefact Thieves, ie: night FAARTs.

Beth Barham, Thorndon

Cathy MacNeilage

Two films based on the so-called mystery surrounding the Ninth Legion are in the pipeline. The Centurion is, I believe, almost ready for release, starring an ex-Bond girl (Olga Kurylenko) and dubbed an action movie. I have higher hopes for Eagle of the Ninth, based on Rosemary Sutcliff's book, presently being filmed in south-west Scotland. I was surprised that Sutcliff was not listed when archaeology-based fiction was the subject of On the Web (Jul/Aug 2008).

Cathy MacNeilage, Wester Ross

Stone Age man was fitter, faster and leaner than his MoDern counterpart, and he lived a healthier and far more natural life, before dieing at the age of 19.
Dr Hilary Edmund advocates a stone age diet of meat, fish, fruit and raw vegetables on the satirical Sunday Supplement, Radio 4 February 4 2004

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