This shipwreck was recently exposed on the beach at Bamburgh Castle in Scotland. One of our former students, Jessica Berry, was called in to investigate.

Here at LAMP we always are proud to see our former students make good! We recently saw a news story involving one of our 2007 Field School students, Jessica Berry. She was a Flinders University student at the time, working on her master's degree, and she participated in the joint Flinders-LAMP Field School in that year, which was the first Field School LAMP ever sponsored (we have continued to run a summer field school in maritime archaeology each year since). Jessica, a native of the United Kingdom, was a great student, lots of fun to work with, and she even authored some of our LAMPosts Blog entires--check them out here and here .

Continue reading "Former LAMP student, now CEO of Britain's Maritime Archaeology Sea Trust, investigates Scottish shipwreck" »

One of our former graduate students, Kyle Lent, recently published an article on his work with us in Flinders University's magazine Engage, the July 2013 edition. Flinders University is located in South Australia and we have worked with their faculty and students many times before (see here, and here). Kyle served as a Field School Supervisor during the 2012 season, and worked as a volunteer archaeologist for many months after that, until he got a job with the archaeological consulting firm SEARCH. He is one of our many success stories!

The entire issue of Engage is available as a pdf, and you can read it here. Below is a snippet, but by all means check out the entire article!

The final months of the American Revolution (1775-1781), were an exceptionally perplexing time for everyone involved. As British control over the colonies was diminishing, many loyalists looked to the horizon to flee what would soon be a new rule. East Florida’s inviting climate and its loyalty to the crown proved to be an enticing prospect. Based on many archaeological assumptions, supported by an equal amount of archaeological evidence, the Storm Wreck is, in all likeliness, an example of a colonial-era British loyalist refugee ship which attempted to flee Charleston, South Carolina, and met its demise while attempting to enter St Augustine at the end of, or shortly after, the Revolution.

230 years later, archaeologists cast off the dock lines of a former 36-foot steel hulled shrimping boat turned research vessel, set GPS navigation to the site coordinates, and put a fresh pot of coffee on the boil one early June morning. As the sun rises above the horizon, so the 2012 field season begins.

The 2011 LAMP Field School announcement is now online! Click here to learn about our upcoming summer field school, June 6-July 1, 2011.

UPDATE: The 2009 Field School was a great success! Click here to read the 2009 Field School blog posts!

Below is the original announcement for the 2009 Field School:

The 2009 Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program (LAMP) Field School will be held June 8-26, 2009 at the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum. This comprehensive 3-week field practicum will focus on the testing of an unidentified ballast pile to make a determination whether it represents the remains of the Confederate privateer Jefferson Davis, lost on the St. Augustine bar in August 1861 after the most successful cruise of the entire war. Alternate inshore sites will be investigated depending on conditions offshore.

Continue reading "6/8-6/26/2009: LAMP 2009 Summer Field School" »

Since the start of this years fieldwork (July 1), LAMP archaeologists have been working hard to implement the inaugural season of the First Coast Maritime Archaeology Project. This major program of research and public archaeology was made possible by a Special Category historical preservation grant from the State of Florida's Division of Historical Resources. Part of our mission is to spread the word about our work and the rich maritime history of Florida's First Coast, and one of the most effective ways to do this is through widespread media exposure. With the help of Beau, the Lighthouse's public relations expert, we have received some great press lately.

Continue reading "LAMP Research Gets Good Press!" »

The boats have been washed down, gear sorted and the majority of the mayhem has subsided. It is very quiet now in the LAMP office. No longer are students coming in and out of the building in need of tasks or a quick break from the day’s heat. We have successfully come to the end of the two week field project and have had to say goodbye to the Flinders crew.

Continue reading "In Retrospect: A look back at the two week Practicum" »

On Sunday, we planned to go out to sea with Doug Hrvoic, the owner of Marine Magnetics and manufacturer of magnetometers and magnetic sensors. I was impressed with the Marine Magnetics magnetometer when I first used one back in 2001. Basically, its quality of data was precise, its setup and operation was simple, and it was lightweight and easy to handle. One of my goals when I arrived at LAMP was to acquire a good quality marine magnetometer in order to search the seas around St. Augustine for historic shipwrecks. I was excited, then, when Doug offered to ship us a top-of-the-line marine gradiometer and come show us how to use it during the initial phase of the First Coast Maritime Archaeology Project and Flinders field school practicum.

Plus this Seaquest marine gradiometer has got to be the coolest mag on the market as it looks like a Klingon bird of prey!

Continue reading "Survey with Marine Magnetics " »

The practicum motto must surely be - whatever it takes! Archaeologists it seems are built tough and they will go to extremes to get the data they need.

Continue reading "Whatever it takes!" »

"Ghostbusting?" asked a passer-by. No, archaeology of course! Here is Jody Bulman before and after a hot, sweaty and entertaining magnetometer training morning on the lawn in front of the LAMP lighthouse. We are all very contented students and not one of our new toys that we are getting to play with is worth under $10,000!

Jody gets his kit on!

Continue reading "We had a field day!" »

On July 4th, LAMP launched its First Coast Maritime Archaeology project in conjunction with Flinders University, in the form of a practicum or advanced maritime archaeological field school. The primary diving site for this two-week field school is a unique archaeological site--two shipwrecks at a single location.

Continue reading "LAMP-Flinders Maritime Archaeology Field School: Diving on a Double Shipwreck Site" »

Today was another awesome day out on the water although this time we stayed dry. Instead we got to play with some very cool and expensive toys, namely a sidescan sonar - the Klein system 3000... oh yeah baby!!!

Continue reading "Seeing beneath the waves" »

I am a lucky man. My position as director of the online Museum of Underwater Archaeology (MUA) has allowed me to work with some of the best folks in underwater archaeology. Back in February I was fortunate enough to host the Flinders University spring field school journal on the MUA. Today I’m down in St. Augustine, FL visiting with the Flinders staff and students, many of whom I’d met via email as we received their daily entries. This time I’m visiting them as they conduct what Flinders University underwater archaeologist Mark Staniforth refers to as a practicum rather than a field school.

Continue reading "Blogging From the Other Side" »

Student log: day 2.

It's 5.30 am. It's much too early and I wonder whether intravenous caffeine is a possibility. Slowly, very slowly all the necessary kit is assembled for the first morning for some of us who are heading out on the two vessels.

Continue reading "LAMP/Flinders Field School Student Log: day two" »

The first ever maritime archaeological field school here in the nations oldest port officially started this week. The Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program (LAMP) and Flinders University has partnered to give under water archaeological students a hands-on tutorial. Students will learn their craft while-doing, as they prepare, research, dive on and record some of the many shipwrecks off the St.Augustine Coast.

Continue reading "Maritime Archaeological Field School Sets Sail in St. Augustine" »