Internat J Naut Archaeol 34 (2)

The Adelaar, a Dutch East-Indiaman outward bound from Middleburg to Batavia, was wrecked on Greian Head, Barra, in Scotland's Outer Hebrides in 1728. The author argues that although heavily salvaged at the time, and situated in an extremely dynamic location, the wreck demonstrates that exposed sites can retain meaningful levels of archaeological integrity, and historically valid conclusions can be drawn from them.

A trial excavation was carried out on the near-submerged crannog at Ederline Boathouse, Loch Awe, in July 2004. A trench measuring 3 × 5m was opened on the northern side, in c.3m of water. Around 1m of organic deposits was encountered, along with structural timbers and animal bones. Despite a previous fourth-century BC radiocarbon determination from a structural timber, a sherd of E ware from a sealed context gives an Early Historic date for the deposits excavated in 2004. The results from this first intrusive investigation of a Loch Awe crannog demonstrate that these sites are complex and long-lived. Specialist reports include

A three-year research project, The Monitoring of Shipwreck Sites (MoSS), was initiated in 2001 as a partnership between several European countries: Finland (project leader), Germany, Holland, United Kingdom, Denmark and Sweden. The aim was to establish a suitable programme for the monitoring, safeguarding and visualizing of shipwreck sites, based on the investigation of three wrecks located in the Baltic and North Seas. Phase I involved the monitoring process, with the investigation of physical, chemical and biological factors that will help to identify potential threats to buried and exposed archaeological material. Phases II and III considered safeguarding and visualizing of shipwreck sites.

Report on a conference held by the Naval Dockyards Society at the Royal Naval Museum and University of Portsmouth between 30 April and 2 May 2005, with brief summaries of the main papers presented.