SEMINAR: ARCHAEOLOGY SEMINAR SERIES

The Australian Historic Shipwreck Preservation Project (AHSPP) is a collaborative national project funded by a large Australian Research Council Linkage Grant awarded in 2011. With ten state, territory and federal Partner Organisations working with three collaborating universities, this is the largest multi-government, multi-institutional maritime archaeological project run in Australia. Exceeding the ARC and partner funding is considerable sponsorship and in-kind support from industry, institutions and volunteers.

This presentation will outline the genesis and development of the AHSPP, and will introduce the Clarence historic shipwreck as the case study for this innovative in situ preservation project. We will discuss the data management, excavation and reburial methodology employed for the excavation, recording, and reburial of the artefacts and the site for the major 2012 excavation season undertaken in April this year, and touch on the follow-up reburial visit in June and planned finalization of the in situ preservation component scheduled for November 2012.