The first of the First Coast Maritime Archaeology Project lecture series for 2008 will take place at the St. Augustine Lighthouse Museum on Thursday, March 6, at 6 pm. LAMP Director of Archaeology Dr. Sam Turner will present a slideshow lecture titled “Maritime Archaeology in Portarlington, Australia.”
Since 2007, LAMP and Flinders University of South Australia have partnered to host a university-level summer field school practicum here in our nation’s oldest port.
In order to make this joint effort a continuing success, each February one LAMP archaeologist travels to Australia to participate in the annual Flinders field school held in Australian waters. This allows LAMP and Flinders staff an opportunity to plan for the upcoming project in St. Augustine, while allowing divers from the two different programs a chance to work together which translates into more safe and efficient teamwork in both countries.
The paddlewheel of PS Ozone protrudes from the water at Indented Heads, Victoria.
On Thursday, March 6th at 6 pm in the Anastasia Gallery, Sam will be talking about the work accomplished during his February trip to Portarlington (across the bay from Melbourne). Students in the Flinders field school, along with Sam and other field school staff, conducted wreck inspections on the Anieura, PS Ozone, and Dominion, an excavation on the Clifton Springs long jetty (pier) site, relocated the wreck of the 1856 Scottish brig Mountain Maid, and confirmed that the Joanna wrecksite is currently buried. Please attend and see some great photographs of divers working in clear water (by St. Augustine standards, at least) on some really fantastic maritime sites!
Please call and RSVP to Pam at the Lighthouse & Museum (904) 829-0745.
Dr. Sam Turner (top) assists a Flinders University diver on a shipwreck site in Portarlington, Victoria, Australia.
Sam consoling an unidentified field school student . . .