Our friends at the Mary Rose Museum have a wonderful collection of paper craft Tudor era artefacts that you can make at home.  All you need is a printer, scissors, glue and a bit of patience! The flagon took about 10 minutes and Henry VIII was at least 30 minutes to make.

Check out this link for a full list of the crafts available! Mary Rose Museum Papercraft Artefacts.

If you make any crafts, please post a photo on Twitter using the hashtag #FLShipwrecks.  We’d love to see them!

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The post Summary of our third Maritime Archaeology Tweetchat appeared first on Shipwrecks and Submerged Worlds.

Charles Weager (Blackwater, Yateley, Hampshire, UK): I find it interesting that a simple method of changing the sail shape existed. That they could head to within 60degrees of the wind is fascinating. Was this technology available to Medieval ships? Is it lost technology? I had always understood that until the use of Lanteen (Triangular) sails that shipping was seriously restricted hence the need to rely on the trade winds for ocean navigation. Even the shipping along the Indian ocean coasts depended on the prevailing monsoons because of the undeveloped sail technology. Yachting still does, anyone sailing from Europe to the Americas will head south to the Azores or the Canaries before heading West on a favourable wind.

https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/shipwrecks-2/comments/5572143

2.12 Navigation and trade

Astrid Niemann Jorgensen: What did Mariners do when they got blown off course?

3.2 Our changing seas

Alastair Mellor: Are the affects of man taken into account? For example a vast area of the Netherlands is reclaimed from the sea and in England the area of the Wash is smaller than it was in medieval times (due in part to Dutch engineers). Are there many landbased shipwreck hunters? https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/shipwrecks-2/comments/5727917

3.2 Our changing seas

Christine Scates: I hope this isn’t a silly question but in the video it mentions the volume of sea water being affected. How is this measured? https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/shipwrecks-2/comments/5637433

3.11 Marine geophysics for submerged landscape investigations

Does Southampton use the Kray computers at Bracknall for seismic interpretation or have their own?

3.8 Geophysical techniques for maritime archaeology

Valerie Naylor: Are submerged worlds protected from, for example, the placing of wind turbines or oil rigs? If a developer discovers archaeological remains during exploration, are they obliged to report them? And if so, are archaeologists given a time window in which to assess the site or can a preservation order be placed on it, as on land?

3.13 Archaeological methods for submerged landscape investigations

When talking of hand axes & the like found in river gravel deposits. Is it possible that these early peoples made offerings to their gods as has been found in much later sites such as Flag Fen?  JACKI HART

3.16 Case study on marine geophysical surveys: the SS Richard Montgomery wreck

Lots of questions about the safety of the SS Richard Montgomery and how make wreck sites with ammo safe!

The post Questions on Week 3 appeared first on Shipwrecks and Submerged Worlds.

Core samples can be gathered from all over the world. Here, core samples are being taken from an intertidal site at Somerset.

They can be removed from the ground using a variety of techniques; either hand powered or mechanical in nature. We can take them from dry land, inter-tidal and underwater contexts.

Once removed from the site they are taken to the BOSCORF (British Ocean Sediment Core Research Facility) Core store at the National Oceanographic Centre in Southampton. Here they are split in half. One section becomes an archive to be stored for later researchers, the other the ‘working’ section. Once split the core can be recorded; noting the change in sediments, colour and inclusions.

This core is over 10,000 years old and is from the southern North Sea and shows an old riverbed at the base, covered by a wetland system and then a slow shift through the development of an estuary before finally becoming fully inundated by the sea.

It is also possible to use more advanced technology to examine the cores. At the university of Southampton we have one of the few ITRAX machines that is able to take extremely high-resolution images, as well as x-rays and xRF data. The x-rays allow us to see variation in the density of core material, and to pick out microstructures not visible to the eye. The xRF data gives detail on the variation of chemical elements in the core.

Once examined, the cores are stored in a temperature control storage area. As you can see we have thousands of cores, from all over the world giving us a wealth of crucial archaeological data.

If you enjoyed this, you might like this article about how core samples can be used.

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