Year 12 - Unit 4 - Batavia

Batavia Gallery - WA Shipwrecks Museum

Batavia Gallery - WA Shipwrecks Museum
Image copyright WA Museum 

In Unit 4 of the year 12 Marine & Maritime Studies syllabus students explore the maritime history and archaeology of Western Australia through the example of the Batavia shipwreck.

This includes:

  • historical background
  • location process
  • survey
  • excavation
  • recovery
  • conservation
  • interpretation of objects

The resources on the WA Museum website have been written for a variety of audiences and different purposes. To assist you in accessing this content we adopted the following key to guide you:

Resource Key
Level Description
1 brief, basic information laid out in an easy-to-read format. May use informal language. (Includes most news articles, exhibition promotional material)
2 provides additional background information and further reading. Introduces some subject-specific language. (Includes online exhibitions, recorded lectures/podcasts)
3 lengthy, detailed information. Frequently uses technical/subject-specific language. (Includes most research articles, conference papers)

HISTORY

Batavia's History

Batavia's History

Level 1, web page
Students are provided with a historical overview of the Batavia story covering the voyage, shipwrecking, mutiny, murders, rescue and punishment.

Batavia

Batavia

Level 1, web page
Students can read a description of Batavia and an image gallery. This page also contains information about other VOC vessels and is part of a website to celebrate the 400th Anniversary of Dirk Hartog.

Maritime Archaeology

(1629/06/04)

Level 2, web page
Students can read the Batavia entry in the WA Museum Maritime Archaeology database.

Beacon Virtua

Roaring 40s:
Beacon Virtua

Level 1, simulation
In Beacon Virtua students can explore the legacy of Batavia by visiting a simulation of Beacon Island. Produced as part of the Roaring 40s project.

Roaring 40s Batavia

Roaring 40s:
Batavia

Level 2, webpage
Students can read a brief history of the loss and discovery of Batavia as part of the Museums involvement in the 2014-16 "Shipwrecks of the Roaring 40s" research project.

Roaring 40s Beacon Island

Roaring 40s:
Beacon Island

Level 2, web page
A brief background is provided for students to Beacon Island also known as Batavia’s Graveyard - the site where about 120 survivors were murdered.

VOC Story

VOC Story

Level 1, web page
Students can read this article for background information about the  Dutch East India Company – Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie or VOC. Includes an interesting comparison between the VOC and the Australian Football League (AFL).

Early Sailing Ships

Early Sailing Ships

Level 1, web page
A quick guide for students to identify how the VOC classified their ships. Was Batavia a retourschip or jacht?

Maritime Archaeology

Shipwrecks Map

Level 1, interactive map
A map that will help students locate to shipwrecks off the Western Australia coast.

Maritime Archaeology

Strangers on the Shore

Level 2, web page
Strangers on the Shore is an electronic database that students can explore, containing all known European and Asian shipwrecks around Western Australia's where survivors have had Indigenous social contact.

Maritime Archaeology

Pelsaerts Journal

Level 3, document
This is a translation of Pelsaert's original journal that is in the Netherlands State Archives. This translation was made by Adriaaen de Jong in 2007.

Maritime Archaeology

Pelsaerts Journal

Level 3, document
This is a translation of Pelsaert's original journal that is in the Netherlands State Archives. Marit van Huystee, working in the Department of Maritime Archaeology, made this translation in 1994.

Maritime Archaeology

Identifying survivors

Level 2, document
Students can read a research document on the analysis of the potential for finding and identifying the human remains of the survivors of the Batavia shipwreck.

Maritime Archaeology

Ongeluckige Voyage van 't Schip Batavia

Level 3, report
This report discusses the various differences between the nine versions of the Ongeluckige Voyage van 't Schip Batavia.


LOCATION PROCESS AND SURVEY

Batavia Anchor

Wreck Discovery

Level 1, web page
Students are given a short introduction to the discovery of the Batavia wreck site.

Mysteries Screenshot

Mysteries Unfold

level 1, video
Students can view a short video describing the discovery of a new communal grave on Beacon Island (Batavia’s Graveyard).

Long Island Survey

Long Island Survery

Level 2, web page
Students can read about the 2017 land survey methodology used on Long Island (Seal’s Island) the location of the slaughter site of 45 Batavia survivors and gallows site of Batavia mutineers.

Maritime Archaeology

Batavia's Graveyard

Level 3, research report
Students can read a Museum research report on the 1992 archaeological survey of Beacon Island.

Maritime Archaeology

Beacon Island Survey

Level 3, report
This survey report provides details for students on the geophysical work undertaken by the UWA Department of Geophysics and WA Museum Maritime Archaeology Department on the 2014 expedition to Beacon Island.


EXCAVATION AND RECOVERY

Tagged Timbers

Wreck Site Excavation

Level 2, web page
Students can find out about the excavation of the Batavia wreck site including the Beacon Island facilities, excavation conditions and how the artefacts were recorded.

Remains Discovered 1963

Beacon Island Burials

Level 2, web page
Students can find out about the excavation methods and analysis on Beacon Island of the mass grave sites of victims of the Batavia mutiny better known as Batavia’s Graveyard.

New Batavia Burials

Batavia Burials

Level 1, press release
In this Museum press release students can read about the discovery of 4 bodies on Beacon Island as part of the Roaring 40s project.

Cannon down Jetty

Anniversary Gallery

Level 1, image gallery
Students can view a selection of images from the early expeditions and excavations that were shared to celebrate the 50th anniversary of discovering the wreck site (June 4th 2013).

Pat Baker Gallery

Patrick Baker Gallery

Level 1, image gallery
Patrick Baker was the Western Australian Museum's shipwrecks photographer. This series of photo galleries explores his amazing career and catalogues the photos taken between 1970 - 2005. In this gallery students will see photos of the exploration and restoration of the Batavia wreck.

2013 Dive

2013 Dive

Level 1, video
In this short video students can take a dive to the Batavia wreck site in the Abrolhos Islands during the research expedition of April-May 2013.

Jeremy Green

Loss of Batavia

Level 3, report
For students looking for more in depth information they can read this comprehensive excavation report and catalogue of artefacts from the Batavia wreck written by Head of Maritime Archaeology Jeremy Green.


CONSERVATION AND
INTERPRETATION OF OBJECTS

Batavia Gallery

WA Shipwrecks Museum

Level 1, school excursion
The best way to experience the Batavia is on an excursion or independent visit to the WA Shipwrecks Museum in Fremantle. In the Batavia Gallery students will see the reconstructed segment of hull from the ship, a skeleton of one of the people murdered on the Abrolhos Islands and artefacts recovered from the wreck.

Batavia Gallery Virtual Tour

Batavia Gallery Virtual Tour

Level 1, virtual tour
Unable to make it to the WA Shipwrecks Museum? Students can take a virtual tour of the Batavia Gallery. Includes the ability to zoom into objects and to read object labels

Geraldton Shipwrecks Gallery

Museum of Geraldton

Level 1, school excursion
In the Shipwrecks Gallery at the Museum of Geraldton students will see artefacts recovered from the Batavia wreck including the impressive portico façade–carried as cargo to be used as a grand entrance to the city of Batavia.

Market Stall

Travellers and Traders

Level 2, online exhibition
This is the Batavia entry for the Travellers and Traders in the Indian Ocean World exhibition that was at the WA Maritime Museum in 2016-17. Students can view how the Batavia story was presented in the larger context of this exhibition.

Moving the Batavia Cannon

Moving the Batavia Cannon

Level 1, photogallery
The fitting of Batavia Gallery with a 28lb cannon (cast in 1616) recovered from the wreck of the Batavia.

Conserving Cannons

Conserving Cannons

Level 1, video
Students will watch a video of a Museum conservator talk about the methods employed to clean up and stabilise cannons excavated off wreck sites on the Western Australian coast.

Apothecary Jars

Apothecary Jars

Level 2 video, Level 3 thesis
The Batavia wreck site produced a large collection of medical supplies used by the ship’s surgeon. Students can watch a video about research done in this area.

Gemma Constantiniana

Gemma Constantiniana

Level 2, web page
Students can follow the journey story of a cameo known as the Gemma Constantiniana - how it ended up onboard Batavia and its eventual display in the Travellers and Traders exhibition.

Batavia Timbers

Batavia Timbers

Level 2, video
A ship like Batavia would need the equivalent of about 700 trees to be felled. But where did the VOC source the timber? Students can watch this video to find out this answer and the research behind it.

WebGL Gravesite

3D Gravesite

Level 2, 3D recreation
Students can utilise a web technology called WebGL, that the Museum used to recreate a Batavia mutiny gravesite from the Abrolhos Islands.

Hull Study

Hull Study

Level 2, web page, Level 3 links
A research project conducted by the WA Museum to study the remains of the Batavia hull.

Analysis of Human Remains

Analysis of Human Remains

Level 3, research reports
The Maritime Archaeology department undertook a research project to analyse the human skeletal remains associated with the Batavia mutiny of 1629. Students can read a summary and the actual reports for more in depth information.

Rijksdaalder

Numismatics

Level 1, database
Students can explore images of coins from the Batavia wreck in the Museums Numismatics database.