Maritime Archaeology's research

  • 16 Jul 2013

    Jeremy Green: The Deep-Water Graveyard

    The settlement of Western Australia meant that an increasing number of ships were sailing into port. Some of these ships were incapable of carrying on due to factors like age and storm damage, and so were being abandoned on pristine beaches. This caused unrest within the local community as it ‘didn’t look good’ to have wrecked ships lining the coast.

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    Video
    Western Australian Museum

  • 11 Jul 2013

    Apothecary Jars from Batavia and Gilt Dragon

    The Batavia wreck site produced a large collection of medical supplies used by the ship’s surgeon – one of the largest ever found from this period. Coral, an aquatic archaeology student from Texas A&M. University came to Western Australia to study the medical supplies of the Dutch wrecks Batavia and Gilt Dragon (Vergulde Draeck). Her study focused on shipboard medicine from large trading companies of the 17th and 18th centuries.

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    Video
    Western Australian Museum

  • 8 Jul 2013

    The Mysteries of Batavia

    Batavia is housed at the Western Australian Museum’s Shipwreck Galleries, and can tell us a lot about seafaring and shipbuilding in the 17th Century.

    Batavia is unique. It sank in 1629, right off the Western Australian coast in the Houtman-Abrolhos archipelago. It was the first Dutch East India ship to be lost along this rugged coastline.

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    Video
    Western Australian Museum

  • 5 Jul 2013

    Patrick Baker: Exploring the James Matthews

    The James Matthews was a colonial ship that was wrecked in 1841, about 8 or 9 km from the Fremantle Maritime Museum, at Woodman Point.

    The ship was carrying a group of settlers coming out from the United Kingdom. They were, quite literally, as Patrick Baker points out, ‘on the doorstep of their new home’ when the ship sank.

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    Video
    Western Australian Museum

  • Diver exploring the wreck of the Batavia

    1 Jul 2013

    Month of Shipwrecks

    July 2013 is the Month of Shipwrecks.

    At 9:30am every weekday throughout the month a new video, map, mini-website, photo gallery, lecture, interview or database will be available exclusively on this website to reveal new insights about wrecks such as the Batavia, SS Xantho and James Matthews, or invite you behind-the-scenes to learn about our research and archaeology.

     

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    Online Exhibition
    Danny Murphy

  • 1 Jul 2013

    Corioli: The Shipwrecked Sepia

    The Sepia was a three-masted iron sailing barque that wrecked en route to Fremantle, 3km west of Carnac Island. It was carrying general supplies needed for the growing colony.  Corioli has carried out excavations on the site and has found items that reveal information about consumer goods for early colonists, which gives us great insight into their needs and wants.

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    Video
    Western Australian Museum

  • 17 Aug 2012

    Wreck of the Zuytdorp

    Presented by Dr Michael "Mack" McCarthy, Curator, Maritime Archaeology Presented as part of the In the Wild West Lecture Series in 2012.

    Since the 1960s WA Museum staff have been searching for answers to the mysteries surrounding the Dutch East India Company trading ship Zuytdorp. Dr McCarthy will discuss the ship and its loss, as well as the discovery of the wreck and subsequent archaeological research.

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    Video
    Danny Murphy

  • Bunbury Whalers Dig

    Departmental resources | Updated 1 decade ago

    Two whaling ships, the Samuel Wright and the North America lie 10,000 nautical miles from home, and located directly beneath a car park in south-western Australian city of Bunbury.

    Their excavation reveals amazing stories about whaling in the Indian Ocean, shipwreck discovery and conservation, and the rich maritime heritage of Western Australia.

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  • Broken Wings

    Departmental resources | Updated 1 decade ago

    Broken Wings is dedicated to the exploration, discovery, documentation, conservation and presentation of recently discovered WWII heritage aircraft crash sites worldwide. 

    Some of the components of this website include submerged aviation archaeology; in-situ preservation; partial or total recovery; exhibits; technical research and publications.

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  • Treasures from the Deep

    Departmental resources | Updated 1 decade ago

    These research based subsites explores four very famous and significant stories from Western Australian history:

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  • Cape Inscription

    Departmental resources | Updated 1 decade ago

    Dirk Hartog Island is of the greatest historical importance, being the site of the earliest recorded European landfall on the Western Australian coast.

    This site explores the histories of the following explorers, shipwrecks and historic sites:

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