Maritime Archaeology and Social Relations: British Action in the Southern Hemisphere (The Springer Series in Underwater Archaeology)

208 Pages·2006·2.41 MB·English

by  Virginia Dellino-Musgrave

Maritime Archaeology
and Social Relations
British Action in the Southern Hemisphere
The Springer Series in Underwater Archaeology
Series Editor: J. Barto Arnold III
Institute of Nautical Archaeology, Texas A & M University, College Station,
Texas
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Maritime Archaeology
and Social Relations
British Action in the Southern Hemisphere
Virginia E. Dellino-Musgrave
University of Nottingham
Andover, Hants, United Kingdom
and
English Heritage
Portsmouth, United Kingdom
Virginia Dellino-Musgrave
University of Nottingham
183 Pilgrims Way
Andover, Hants
SP10 5HT United Kingdom
and
English Heritage
Fort Cumberland
Fort Cumberland Road
Eastney
Portsmouth, P04 9LD
United Kingdom
Library of Congress Control Number: 2006924880
ISBN-10: 0-387-33598-6 e-ISBN: 0-387-33600-1
ISBN-13: 978-0387-33598-8
Printed on acid-free paper.
© 2006 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the
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Printed in the United States of America.
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To my husband, Ian Musgrave, without whose love and
encouragement this book would have never been completed
PREFACE
The material expression of social relations at the end of the 18th
century in remote areas has not been a particularly well explored area
of academic enquiry. My interests lie in the meanings attached to and
embedded in goods. Furthermore, because goods are carriers of
meanings, people ‘create’, ‘negotiate’, and ‘express’ social relations,
materially projecting their identities.
This book represents an extension of my Master’s thesis and
developments of my doctoral research in the Faculty of Arts at the
University of Southampton. Furthermore, it is the result of my
involvement in the HMS Swift project and the expansion of my ideas
in relation to social approaches in archaeology, the integration of land
and maritime concerns, and material culture studies.
This research focuses on the impact of British maritime action in
colonial contexts in the South Atlantic at the end of the 18th century.
By integrating historical and archaeological data, I highlight the
archaeological potential of wrecks and their cargoes through a wider
understanding of British activities and European relations in remote
areas. Consequently, this book represents some of my thoughts about
‘doing’ archaeology. Over the last sixteen years, I have been involved
in ‘terrestrial’ and ‘maritime’ archaeology which has enabled me to
explore different venues of generating archaeological interpretations.
In this way, this book goes beyond a descriptive analysis of wrecks by
exploring them and their cargoes as embodiments of 18th century
social relations. This helps to build a social perspective of the ‘land-
maritime’ worlds of that time. By linking social theory with the
practice of pottery analysis, British action is examined locally through
the construction and the expression of identities in Royal Navy and
colonial contexts. These contexts are integrated globally linking land
and sea by understanding the way that 18th century British activities
worked within physical and social landscapes.
vii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book is based upon my PhD thesis and the results of this
work were product of discussions held with supervisors and
colleagues. Therefore, I am very grateful to Chris Loveluck,
Matthew Johnson, Mark Staniforth, Lucy Blue and Dolores Elkin
for reading, commenting on and discussing this written work.
Special thanks to Clive Gamble for his continuous support and
intellectual stimulation since the beginning of my stay in the UK.
To my doctoral supervisor Jon Adams. To Myra Stanbury for her
e-mail support and for providing the information used in this book
about HMS Sirius.
I am very indebted to my friends and colleagues: Annabel Field
for reading thoroughly several chapters of this book and for our
productive and stimulating discussions; Doortje Van Hove for
reading, commenting and discussing some sections of this work and
to both of them for their valuable friendship. To Mark Dunkley,
Carina Buckley, Fiona Coward, Rebecca Bridgman, Kieran
Westley, Phil and Anoma McCoy, and Alex Luchetti for helping
with the English edition of this work. To Marsha Robbins and Jorge
Herrera for their excellent home-made coffees! To Jo Bagget, Kate
Smith, Jens Auer, Cristina Serra, Anita Albertini, Laura Novaro and
Mariano Ramos for their continuous love and support that give me
so much strength wherever we are.
To my dear Argentinean friends and colleagues of the INAPL-
PROAS Underwater Archaeology team Amaru Argüeso, Cristian
Murray, Damián Vainstub, Mónica Grosso, María Luz Endere,
Ricardo Bastida, Alberto Orsetti and Pancho Requelme for their
professionalism and excellent sense of humor; the former director
of the Regional and Provincial Mario Brozoski Museum, Mary
Sanguinetti; Daniel Escobar and Omar Juanola always willing to
help with the Swift project.
Special thanks to my husband Ian Musgrave for reading,
discussing and editing this written work and without whose love
ix
x Acknowledgements
and encouragement this book would have never been completed. To
my parents and my sister for giving me their love and support,
pulling down the boundaries of the physical distance.
Finally, thank you very much to Fundación Antorchas-British
Council, ORS Award and CONICET-Argentina for providing funds
for my research project contributing to the completion of my
doctoral studies.
Without all of you this final work would have not been possible.
Thank you so much...
Acknowledgements xi
Lograste seducirme con tu calor dorado,
Alimento de mi alma.
Perteneces al aire que respiro,
Eres la vida que completa mi ser con más vida.
Ay!... bendita seas!
Cuanto te necesito...
Cuanto sueño con las caricias de tu peculiar paisaje modelando mi espíritu,
Arcilla fresca entre tus manos.
Cuanto sueño con los relatos de tus fantásticas historias.
Me he sumergido en tus entrañas sin cesar,
Hasta que la realidad tocó a mi puerta.
Por un instante estuviste latiendo a mi lado.
Patagonia: ¡¿porqué te encuentras tan lejos?!
Virginia Dellino-Musgrave
You have seduced me with your golden warmth,
Breath of my soul,
You belong to the air I inhale
You complete my life with more life
Oh!... Bless you!
How much I need you...
I dream about the strokes of your unique landscape moulding my spirit
Fresh clay between your hands
I dream about your fantastic stories
I have submerged in the depths of your seas
Until reality knocked on my door
For one second your heart was beating next to mine
Patagonia: why are you so far away?!
By Virginia Dellino-Musgrave