LAMP's Archaeological Conservator Starr Cox excavates the sediments from inside a cauldron from the 18th century Storm Wreck. At this stage the large cast iron pot has been removed from its original location and is rigged for lifting. The cauldron is believed to date from 1740 to 1780.

In addition to the underwater footage of the cauldron above (taken on the day of best visibility we've ever had on site), our friends and partners at FPAN, who were on the boat last Wednesday for its raising, have footage of the cauldron as it first broke the surface and saw sunlight for the first time in three centuries . . . you can tell from all the whooping and hollering and honking from surrounding boats that it was an exciting day, check it out!

For those of you who haven't heard, LAMP archaeologists yesterday raised a cauldron from an 18th century shipwreck off St. Augustine. It came up without any problems and is a fine artifact in great shape which promises to reveal many more secrets. We invited a lot of press to cover the event, and they all did a great job with some great stories. First Coast News (TV12) did a great story on the raising of the cauldron, to watch it click the link above.

Links to more news stories and videos are below . . .

Continue reading "Great Press Coverage for Cauldron Raising!" »

Cute lighthouse video from the Responsibility Project. It highlights the relationship between a lighthouse and its community in a really neat way, and is worth a watch!

We've gotten lots of great press regarding our recent exciting discovery of a colonial period shipwreck, nicknamed the "Storm Wreck." The video above is by Jessica Clark of First Coast News.

Vic Micolucci WJXT 4 News4Jax also did a great story! In addition to video they have a slideshow at the same link.

Dee Registre of Action News Jax (TV 47) also ran a fabulous story on the Saturday evening newscast.

In print media, the St. Augustine Record ran the story as the as the front-page headline.

Daytona Beach News-Journal

The story was also picked up by AOL News and various other media groups.

We believe the Storm Wreck dates to the 1700s, based on the limited types of artifacts recovered by Lighthouse archaeologists to date. Stay tuned to hear more about our discoveries on this exciting wreck, which is only the second colonial-era shipwreck ever discovered in the waters of Northeast Florida, and possibly the oldest.

Students and teachers from the 2010 Field School on board the research vessel Roper.

Things have been so busy during this year's field season that I've had no time whatsoever to blog about our activities! Last week we finished a great field school, which brought 9 students eager to learn, and 4 returning students from last year who served as supervisors, for what turned out to be one of our best field school experiences to date. I've picked out a bunch of great photos so everyone can see what our students were up to during the four-week long period from May 31 to June 25.

Continue reading "LAMP's 2010 Field School a Success for Both Teachers and Students, Part I" »

UPDATE: Some more media outlets have begun to explore the threat to shipwrecks and other archaeological sites posed by the oil spill. Click here to read an Associated Press article on the subject.

This link was just sent to me by my friend David Johnson, a fellow Board member for the Institute of Maritime History, and the speaker representing maritime cultural resources at the recent TEDx Oil Spill livestream video broadcast. This event brought together many passionate experts, including marine scientist Dr. Sylvia Earle, and while I haven't watched the entire broadcast it seems like a great and important production. At 2:04:00 David speaks on the importance of preserving shipwrecks in these threatened waters. He does a great job and its worth watching.

Click here to play the broadcast. You can fast forward to 2:04:00 to go straight to Dave's speech on the shipwrecks threatened by the spill.

I'd also like to express our support of our colleagues in the Gulf who are on the front lines of this crisis, including the archaeologists at University of West Florida, who had to recently suspend excavations at the Emanuel Point II shipwreck due to the spill.

SMITHSONIAN, LIGHTHOUSE AFFILIATION A PERFECT MATCH
Posted on StAugustine.com: June 11, 2010 - 12:12am
St. Augustine Record Editorial

The St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum is a newly accepted partner of the Smithsonian. That simple statement leads a news release about the Lighthouse's newest affiliation.

Just saying Smithsonian and the Lighthouse Museum in the same sentence elevates our landmark attraction to almost rare air. For sure, it allows the Lighthouse access to Smithsonian museum artifacts and exhibit pieces that very few would see unless they traveled to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

Museum Director Kathy Fleming said the affiliation has been a museum goal for years. It's an honor to join such a prestigious group -- one of only 13 in Florida and one of 160-plus museums and cultural organizations in 40 states, Panama and Puerto Rico since its establishment in 1996. The benefit of access to the Smithsonian's collections is certainly enough of a draw but added to that is the opportunity for bringing Smithsonian educational programming to our community.

Continue reading "Smithsonian has a new Maritime Partner" »

SAD CHAPTER FOR GALVESTON BENEFITS HISTORY PROJECT
By Harvey Rice
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
June 8, 2010, 9:22PM

GALVESTON — Sam Turner had no idea where he was going to get enough live oak to supply Spanish shipwrights building a replica of the 1779 brig Galveztown, named after Galveston, Texas.

Then Hurricane Ike swamped the city Sept. 13, 2008, killing an estimated 40,000 trees with salt water.

“This project got kicked off in May 2008, and Ike hit in September, and the connection was made that there is a lot of wood there,” said Turner, archeology director for the St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum in St. Augustine, Fla.

Continue reading "International Partnership Gets Help from Galveston" »

Read the full story and view John Pemberton's great photos.

Kathleen McCormick, Director of Collections and Conservation and TV celebrity!

A week or two ago a production crew from Platforms, the Life-Lifting News Program for Women, came to visit the Lighthouse and conducted interviews with Chuck Meide, LAMP Director, and Kathleen McCormick, Director of Collections and Conservation. They're pretty good--check them out at the links below:

Platforms interview with Chuck Meide

Platforms interview with Kathleen McCormick

Thanks to Shivaun Palmer and the rest of the Platforms crew!