Meet the team: Rodrigo Ortiz Vazquez

In 2006 I started my archaeology degree as well as my diving career with particular emphasis on Maritime Archaeology, encouraged by the first Nautical Archaeology Society (NAS) course given in Mexico.

From 2006 to 2011 I studied my BA in Archaeology at the National School of Anthropology and History (ENAH) in Mexico City. In this same period the Archaeological Survey Lab of Institute for Anthropological Research based at the National University of Mexico (IIA-UNAM) allowed me to join them. I have been fortunate enough to participate in several international projects in Mexico, Spain, Israel and the UK, some of them in collaboration with different universities from US, Italy, Chile, Argentina, Colombia and the previously mentioned countries.

From 2011 to 2012, I was a field officer in the excavation of the port city of Magdala, located in the Sea of Galilee in Israel.

In 2013, the National Committee for Science and Technology (CONACYT) granted me a scholarship in Mexico, enabling me to pursue the MA programme at the University of Southampton, joining the Centre for Maritime Archaeology (CMA).

My research during the MA was focused on the site formation processes of the HMS Invincible shipwreck located in the east Solent, UK, using combined historical, archaeological and environmental data from the National Oceanography Centre (NOC). During this time Pascoe Archaeological Services (PAS) and MSDM Marine have allowed me to carry out commercial work as a diving tender in England, Wales and Scotland.

Currently my PhD research project deals with maritime landscapes of the main ports of Mexico. Considering that landscape in archaeology continues to play a pivotal role in seaports today, little is understood on how this develops.