Wendy van Duivenvoorde

‘They call ’im Crowie’: an investigation of the Aboriginal significance attributed to a wrecked River Murray barge in South Australia

The Indigenous intangible heritage related to wrecked vessels has been poorly studied and documented. This article provides a counter to dominant maritime archaeology discourses via the investigation of the Aboriginal significance attributed to a wrecked and submerged River Murray barge (Crowie) in South Australia. There are numerous layers of Aboriginal significance that may be attributed to Crowie including the relationship of the community with their ‘underwater country’, Indigenous contributions to the riverboat industry, and the use of Aboriginal terms in vessel-naming practices. Geophysical data from multibeam and sidescan sonar surveys allowed for confirmation of the proposed location of the wreck and through comparison with historical descriptions and photographs provided evidence to substantiate the assignation of the wreck as the Crowie barge.

The Use of Copper and Lead Sheathing in VOC Shipbuilding

Much has been written on the use of lead and copper sheathing in post mediaeval shipbuilding, yet evidence for such hull protection by Dutch shipwrights in the 17th and 18th centuries has received little attention. A discussion of the archaeological and historical evidence pertaining to the application of copper and lead sheathing by the Dutch long-distance trading companies outlines the argument for the innovative character, experimental use—on ships’ hulls—and standardization—on sternposts—as early as 1602. Archaeological evidence presented mainly comes from the Dutch East Indiamen Nassau (1606), Mauritius (1609), Batavia (1629), Vergulde Draak (1656), and Buitenzorg (1760).

The 5th‐Century BC Shipwreck at Tektaş Burnu, Turkey: evidence for the ship's hull from nail concretions

The Tektas Burnu ship (440–425 BC) sank along a rough and desolate stretch of the Turkish Aegean coast. Archaeological excavation of the shipwreck site by the Institute of Nautical Archaeology at Texas A&M University resulted in the retrieval of hundreds of small fragments from the ships wooden hull and its metal fasteners. Recent study of this artefact assemblage suggests that the coastal trader was built with pine planks and made-frames, and assembled by a shell-based construction method. Fasteners include pegged mortise-and-tenon joints and double-clenched copper nails, and the ship may have had laced extremities consistent with other contemporaneous shipwrecks.

Pigments from the Zuiddorp (Zuytdorp) ship sculpture: red, white and blue?

SUMMARY: The Dutch East India Company ship Zuiddorp (also known as Zuytdorp) met its demise in 1712 at the base of steep cliffs along the Western Australian coast. Material from the shipwreck includes an extraordinary example of a caryatid herm from the ship’s stern counter. A recent study of this sculpture and the pigments found on its surface demonstrates Zuiddorp’s archaic stern construction and adornment, which is more of a late 17th-century, than an early 18th-century, Dutch Indiaman. This paper discusses the results of this study and emphasizes how the smallest pieces of evidence can broaden our understanding of contemporaneous regional Dutch East India Company shipbuilding practices.