CACHE & SNS Buried Boats Research Forum
CACHE was delighted to co-host with the School of Natural Sciences a recent Buried Boats Research Forum. The event was a resounding success with special guests from Silent World Foundation, the Australian Maritime Museum and PhD candidates from Flinders University and University of Melbourne.
Many of our MQ and CACHE community members have been involved in the study and preservation of boats and shipwrecks. The showcase offered complementary perspectives on, and techniques for, the study of buried boats – from eDNA, species identification, wood preservation, 3D scanning and materials analysis. A key focus was on collaborative efforts to conserve and study the Barangaroo Boat and other recent archaeological discoveries such as the boats at Windsor on the banks of the Hawkesbury River, elsewhere in the Murray-Darling basin, and coastal wrecks in South Australia and Western Australia.
CACHE Director, Prof Ronika Power kicked off the event with an Introduction to CACHE, followed by Executive Committee members Prof Damian Gore presenting on “Inorganic materials in buried boats” and Michael Rampe on “3D imaging of exhumed boats”. Dr Sophia Aharonovich, CACHE Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Archaeology of Ancient Israel (2020 – 2022) and now Lecturer at ACU, also presented on “Pollen and biogeochemistry from Barangaroo Boat”, and recently-submitted PhD scholar Carla Raymond spoke on artefact imaging and tomography using neutrons and X-rays.
The program featured a series of talks including:
Speakers | Topic |
Ronika Power (CACHE / MQU) | Acknowledgement of Country and Introduction to buried boats |
Renee Malliaros (SWF) | Introduction to SWF and boat projects |
Kieran Hosty and James Hunter (ANMM) | The ANMM interest in buried boats and their significance |
Michael Rampe (CACHE / MQU) | 3D imaging of exhumed boats |
Carla Raymond (MQU) | Non-destructive imaging for archaeological science |
Mary Hartley (MQU) | Animal bones and their place in the archaeological record along with buried boats |
Heather Berry (SWF/UoM) | Update on boat treatment projects |
Ben Wharton (SWF/Flinders) / H. Berry (SWF) | Summary of PhD topics: "Bush to Beach" / "Wood conservation" |
Damian Gore (CACHE / MQU) | Inorganic materials in buried boats |
Sophia Aharonovich (ACU) | Pollen and biogeochemistry from Barangaroo Boat |
Anthony Chariton (MQU) | eDNA and buried boats |
The event was a welcome forum to share ideas, methods and fuel some multidisciplinary conversations. Congratulations to CACHE members for bringing together research from the MQU Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Science and Engineering and industry partners for this interesting event! CACHE looks forward to supporting future collaborations.
Image Caption: PhD Candidate, Carla Raymond Presented on “Non-Destructive Imaging for Archaeological Science” (2022).
Image Caption: Prof Ronika Power, introducing the Buried Boats Research (2022).