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GRADUATE SEMINAR 1999


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Research Seminar in Technology, Archaeology, and the Deep Sea
Syllabus

September 14: Introduction

September 21: a. Archaeological theory
Required readings:
Encyclopedia:
"Archaeological Record," "Archaeology," "Conservation," "Excavation" "Research Design"
K.R. Dark, Theoretical Archaeology, "The Identity and Purpose of Archaeology," "The Framework of Archaeological Reasoning." (pp. 36-63).

Additional readings:
Oxford companion to archaeology, "Excavation," "Theory in Archaeology," "Processual Theory," "Post-Processual Theory"
Patty Jo Watson, "Archaeology in Marginal Environments"

b. Sociology of science
Required readings:
Bruno Latour, "Drawing things together"

September 28: a: Public representation of undersea science
Required readings:
Steven Biel, Down with the Old Canoe: A Cultural History of the Titanic Disaster, Foreword, Chapter 7
Additional readings:
Catherine Lutz and Jane Collins, Reading National Geographic, Chapter 7

b: Marine and nautical archaeology
Cases:
Mary rose, Ulu Burun
Keith Muckelroy, Chapters 1-2, Chapter 6
Patty Jo Watson, "Method and Theory in Shipwreck Archaeology,"
Encyclopedia:
"Maritime Archaeology," "Underwater Archaeology," "Nautical Archaeology," "Mary Rose," "Uluburun", "Institute of Nautical Archaeology," "Trilateration," "Baseline Trilateration," "Direct Survey Method," "Airlift," "Positioning Systems," "Shipwreck Anthropology," "Site Formation processes," "Cultural context," "Deep water sites," "Excavation"

Additional readings:
Peter Throckmorton, The Sea Remembers: Shipwrecks and Archaeology.
INA Uluburun site
Mary Rose
(esp. underwater survey)
Underwater Archaeology: A nascent discipline (Unesco, Paris, 1972)
George Bass, Archaeology Under Water.
Richard Gould ed., Shipwreck Anthropology.

October 5: Deep submergence science
Cases:
Project FAMOUS, naval cold war projects, CREST hydrothermal vents
Required readings:
Maurice Tivey, "The Magnetic Thickness of a Recent Submarine Lava Flow," Oceanus 41, #1, 1988.
Ken Macdonald, "Exploring the Global Mid-Ocean Ridge: A Quarter Century of Discovery," Oceanus 41 #1, 1988.
William Broad, The Universe Below Chapter 2(Navy), Chapter 3 (Vents)
Ralf Bachmayer, et. al., "Oceanographic Research Using Remotely Operated Underwater Robotic Vehicles: Exploration of Hydrothermal Vent Sites on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 37° North 32° West" MTS Journal 32, 3

Additional readings:
Sherry Sontag, et. al., Blind Man's Bluff
F. Lewis, One of our H-Bombs is Missing
Video: National Geographic voyage to the edge of creation

October 12: Searching and finding in deep water
Cases: Titanic
, Guadalcanal, Monitor, Bismarck, Skerki D, Yorktown
Required readings:
Encyclopedia:
"Side Scan Sonar,"
Ballard, Titanic Chapters 5-6
Phillipe Blondel and Bramley Murton, Handbook of Seafloor Sonar Imagery, Chapters 2-3
Encyclopedia:
"Side Scan Sonar"

Additional readings:
Harold Edgerton, Sonar Images.
Robert D. Ballard, Yorktown book.

October 19: Deep ocean robotics I: vehicles and systems
Guest:
James Bellingham, Director, MIT AUV lab, Director of Engineering, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute

Required readings:
Robert D. Ballard, "The MEDEA/JASON remotely operated vehicle system," Deep Sea Research 40, #8, 1993.
Albert Bradley, Dana Yoerger, and Barrie Walden, "An AB(L)E Bodied Vehicle," Oceanus Spring/Summer 1995.
James Bellingham, "New Oceanographic Uses of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles," MTS Journal 31, #3
National Research Council, Undersea Vehicles and National Needs
WHOI Deep Submergence Lab Vehicles Page

Additional readings:
Encyclopedia:
"Submersibles"
"M.V. Derbyshire Surveys: UK/EC Assessors' Report."
Curtin, et. al., "Autonomous oceanographic sampling networks," Oceanography 6 (3).
Whitcomb, L., D. Yoerger, H. Singh, and D. Mindell, 1998. "Toward Precision Robotic Maneuvering, Survey, and Manipulation in Unstructured Undersea Environments"
Workshop on Mobile Robots in Subsea Enivronments, Monterey, CA, May 3-6, 1994

October 26: Deep ocean robotics II: sensors and modeling
Guests:
Dana Yoerger / Hanu Sing (Deep Sumbergence Lab, WHOI)

Required readings:
Encyclopedia:
"Sonic High Accuracy Ranging and Positioning," "Photomosaic," "Remote Sensing" "Video Sensing" "Sub-bottom profiler," "Hamilton and Scourge,"
Dana R. Yoerger and David A. Mindell, "Closed-Loop ROV Control at 2200 Meters Depth," ROV '92, San Diego, Calif., June, 1992.
Dana Yoerger, et. al., "High Resolution of a Fast Spreading Mid Ocean Ridge with the Autonomous Benthic Explorer" (PDF)

November 2: Working in deep water: 19th and 20th century warships
Cases: USS Monitor Bismarck, Guadalcanal, Yorktown, Crossroads, Arizona
Required readings:
David Mindell "Shipwrecks of memory: excavating Guadalcanal,"
Gordon Watts, "Deep water archaeological investigation and site testing in the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary,"
Encyclopedia:
"Bismarck," "Arizona," "Crossroads wrecks," "US Navy" "Yamato," "USS Monitor," "National Marine Sanctuary" "Cultural Resource Management" "Titanic,"

Additional readings:
US National Park Service, Submerged Cultural Resources Unit (SCRU)
Gordon Watts, "The location and identification of the ironclad USS Monitor,"
Daniel J. Lenihan ed., "Submerged Cultural Resources Study, USS Arizona Memorial"
Monitor
National Marine Sanctuary, "Long Range Preservation Plan"
CSS Hunley (Civil War submarine) site assessment (PDF)
Operation Crossroads report: "The Archaeology of the Atomic Bomb"

November 9: Ethics, legality, and treasure hunting
Proposals due for final projects
Cases
: Central America, Titanic
Required readings:

Encyclopedia: "Central America," "Abandoned Shipwreck Act," "National Register of Historic Places," "Treasure," "Treasure-hunting," "Salvage Law," "ICOMOS," "Professional Ethics," "Seahawk" "UN Law of the Sea convention,"
IFE Policy on Submerged Cultural Resources

Additional readings:
James Delgado, "Titanic Controversies: The Titanic Since its Discovery,"
James Goold, "Shipwrecks and the Law in the Deep Sea,"
Gary Kinder, Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea
UNESCO Draft Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage

November 16: Working in deep water: the classical and pre-classical worlds
Cases: Skerki Bank wrecks, Phoenician wrecks off Israel
Required readings
:
Encyclopedia:
"Isis Wreck,"
Ballard et. al., "The Discovery of Ancient History in the Deep Sea Using Advanced Deep Submergence Technology."

Additional readings:
Willard Bascomb, Deep Water, Ancient Ships (selections)
McCann, A., 1994. "Deep Water Archaeology: A Late Roman Ship from Carthage and an Ancient Trade route near Skerki Bank off Northwest Sicily," Journal of Roman Archaeology, Supplementary Series 13.
Wachsman, Shelley, Ships and Seafaring in the Bronze Age Levant

November 23: Working in deep water: the Black Sea
Required readings:

Frederik Hiebert, "From Mountaintop to Ocean Bottom: A Comprehensive Approach to Archaeological Research," Ocean Pulse.
Ryan, W., et. al., 1997, "An Abrupt Drowning of the Black Sea Shelf," Marine Geology 138, 119-126.

Additional readings:
Ryan and Pitman, Noah's Flood
Mindell et. al., "Sinop Sonar Surveys 1998, Research Report,"
Willard Bascomb, Deep Water, Ancient Ships (selections)

November 30: Presentation of final projects I

December 7: Presentation of final projects II
Final projects due
.

Additional Resources:

Journals:
International Journal of Nautical Archaeology and Underwater Exploration
International Journal of Nautical Archaeology
Marine Technology Society (MTS) Journal
Oceanus
Deep Sea Research
Oceanography


DeepArch

Deep Water Archaeology Research Group
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
77 Massachusetts Ave. Rm e51-194
Cambridge, MA 02139

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