Page 5 - Bulletin 9 2005

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unrecorded events took place and the effects that they might have had on history. A sailor’s
personal belongings, an officer’s sea chest, or a captain’s horde of private trade goods, all

give indications of the personalities of the people on board and help archaeologists to
understand what contemporary life was like. In turn, an examination of life at the sea ports

and the interior of colonial lands, outposts, and partner trading nations, can give evidence

of the effects of maritime culture on world history from trade to exploration, from slavery
to integration. Much like detectives, archaeologists gather evidence from sites in an attempt

to piece together this history.

The significance of wrecks

Shipwreck sites have historically been largely beyond human reach and therefore contain

material objects that would not be available in many archaeological sites on land.
Furthermore, the anaerobic, or low oxygen, underwater environment means that organic

remains, which are usually not well represented on terrestrial archaeological sites, are found

in abundance on shipwreck sites. Also, the catastrophic nature of most shipwreck events,
combined with the fact that until relatively recently ships had, of necessity, to function as

self-sufficient communities, means that wrecks can be likened to “time capsules”,
preserving together on the seabed a discrete, and accurately datable collection of

archaeological material. Ships would, in many cases, be fitted with up-to-date technology,
and they would carry goods that were of current economic value reflecting economic and

fashion trends. The ship’s structure itself would reveal shipbuilding trends, and armaments

would show advances in warfare and war machinery. Everything that made up the ship, its
cargo and its company at the moment when disaster struck, is contained on a shipwreck

site, often in detailed spatial context.

From the historical perspective - and particularly the South African historical perspective -
ships and shipwrecks are important because they represent the catalyst for, and means by

which the European colonisation of the subcontinent took place. For good or bad, therefore,