Today I was joined by fellow DIR Project members Mark Gottfried, Guy Shockey and Richard Parker at the Intro to Foreshore and Underwater Archaeology course put on by the Underwater Archaeological Society of British Columbia.  The one day course was held at Crystal Pool and Fitness Center in Victoria.  We attended the course in order to learn the basics of Nautical Archaeology and surveying techniques, as well as to build on the working relationship between our SREU and the UASBC.  The two instructors for the course were Jacques Marc, Projects Director for the UASBC, and Kern Schmid. 

The course began with an introduction to the UASBC and the Nautical Archaeology Society followed by an introduction to basic underwater archaeology, applications and dating.  Next Jacques taught us the fundamental principals and techniques of underwater surveying.  After some in class practice it was off to the pool.

Three stations were set up in the pool.  The first was the baseline offset station.  This is where a single baseline (tape measure) is place in the water and artifacts are surveyed by taking simple measurements from this baseline.  The second station was intended to practice trilateration.  In this technique distances to artifacts are measured from three (or in our case two) fixed, and known, points.  This technique results in generally more accurate data, while on the negative side is somewhat more time consuming.  The third station was the drawing frame.  This technique is most useful when surveying many small artifacts in a small physical space.  Basically a half meter square frame is used with a internal string grid consisting of 10 cm squares.  This drawing frame is used to accurately sketch artifacts in the grid.

After the pool session and a break for lunch we returned to the classroom to plot the data and compare results.  This part of the course resulted in more than a few laughs.  It quickly became apparent that this was not exactly the simple course that we expected.  Not a single team plotted the data free of error and none of the three different surveys matched.  We have work to do for sure.   

The day was wrapped up with a two more lectures: archaeological sites from around the world; and the always riveting law and ethics. 

While this was clearly an introductory course, it gave us a glimpse into the world of shipwreck surveying.  It also showed that we have some ways to go as a team before we are ready to start surveying wrecks on our own.  Finally it made us question the practicality of traditional surveying techniques in the time pressured environment common to technical diving.  We all intend to continue on with the upcoming NAS 1 course which is held over two days with survey work done in the ocean.  We are also excited about some upcoming join projects in the works with the UASBC.    

Chris Fenton