SEMINAR: The development of maritime archaeology in Sri Lanka

The development of maritime archaeology in Sri Lanka began in the early 1960s when a 17th century shipwreck carrying a cargo of silver coins was discovered. At that time, investigations were undertaken by interested parties in the ex-pat community and it was not until 1992 when a formal maritime archaeological programme was established. The Western Australian Museum was tasked with teaching Sri Lankan archaeologists to dive and excavate underwater.

A long collaborative research and capacity building programme ensued and continues today. Sri Lanka is strategically located between Arabia and East Asia, at a natural crossroads of navigational routes, and has been a centre of trade and cultural exchange since ancient times. The shipwreck resource is diverse and of global significance. This lecture is an outline of the Museum's work in Sri Lanka as well as a potted history of Sri Lanka's maritime role in a broader Indian Ocean network.



Bio

Corioli Souter is Curator at the Department of Maritime Archaeology at the Western Australian Museum. During her employment with the Museum she has taken part in over 35 archaeological research projects. She has been invited to assist with a number of overseas survey projects including the survey of a 3rd century Roman Bridge in Maastrict, with the Netherlands Institute of Ship Archaeology (NISA), the excavation and survey of the 6th century BC wreck site Pabuc Burnu by the Institute of Nautical Archaeology and the Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology, Turkey and the survey of the British sloop HMS Swift with Programa de Arqueologia Subacuatica, (PROAS) at the Instituto Nacional de Antropologia, Argentina. She has also participated in a number of field seasons in Sri Lanka examining wrecks dating from the 16th century through to the modern period.

Trained as an historical archaeologist and gaining her excavation experience in the desert in the Northern Territory, she later pursued postgraduate qualifications in maritime archaeology. Her main research interests are in developing and utilising remote sensing survey techniques for the discovery and mapping of shipwreck sites; Western Australian shipwrecks; Indigenous/European terrestrial contact archaeology and most recently Museum exhibition projects. Corioli also has interests in the teaching of maritime archaeology at both a public, practitioner and academic level. She was the course co-ordinator for a Masters programme in Applied Maritime Archaeology taught at UWA in conjunction with WAM and also for the MA programmes in Maritime Archaeology at Flinders University of SA and James Cook University of QLD .

PS* This seminar is free and open to the public & no RSVP required.

****All Welcome****