Conference Announcement and Call for Papers
 
The Western Australian Maritime Museum wishes to announce the forthcoming
17th Annual Australians Institute for Maritime Archaeology 1997
International Maritime Archaeological Conference which will be held in
Fremantle at the Maritime Museum from Monday 30 June to Sunday 6 July 1997.
The theme of the Conference is The  Maritime Archaeology of Long Distance
Voyaging (this is not specific to a particular era, but can encompass
voyages from the earliest times through to the modern era and is not
specific to any geographical region). The Conference organizers would like
expressions of interest from individuals who would mat wish to present
papers or attend the conference. Some funding may be available for overseas
speakers who present papers, further details may be obtained from the
organizers.
 
Programme (tentative at present and organizers are open to other suggestions):
 
Monday
        Arrival and registration
Tuesday
        Workshop: The Indian Ocean, boat ethnography and maritime archaeology
Wednesday
        Workshop: Shipwrecks and survivor's camps
Thursday
        Workshop: Iron and steam shipwrecks
Friday
        Workshop: Managing shipwreck sites, similiarities and differences
Saturday
        Public lectures
Sunday
        Public lectures
 
The AIMA conference will be organizing a number of post-conference
excursions and technical workshops. Papers are generally published in the
AIMA Bulletin. In addition the AIMA Conference will coincide with the Vasco
da Gama Quincentenary Conference in Perth (26-27 June) See below.
 
 
 
About the Australian Institute for Maritime Archaeology (AIMA)
 
 
The Australian Institute for Maritime Archaeology is an organization
dedicated to the promotion of maritime archaeology. Its objectives are to
support and undertake scientific research in the field of maritime
archaeology and to publish the results of this work.
In Australia, AIMA has supported work on HMS Sirius, wrecked at Norfolk
Island. This project, supported by funding from the Federal Government and
the private sector, has involved Australian maritime archaeologists and
conservators in the excavation of this significant Australian shipwreck.
AIMA has supported projects in Australia (Dutch wrecks such as the
Batavia (1629) in Western Australia and Australian colonial vessels such as
the
HMS Sirius (1790) on Norfolk Island, HMS Pandora (1791) in Queensland and
the Sydney Cove (1797) in Tasmania).
 
Overseas, AIMA has supported the maritime archaeological work of countries
including Thailand, China, Indonesia, Kenya, Oman, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, the
Philippines, the Solomon Islands, Korea, Japan and others.
 
AIMA Publications
AIMA plays an important role in the dissemination of information. As a
member you will receive, each year, two Bulletins, four newsletters and,
from time to time, special publications. The Bulletins deal with results of
research, excavation work and projects in hand. The Bulletin has been
successfully published for over 20 years.
 
AIMA Conferences
AIMA also hosts an annual conference for its members. These are usually
held in a different centre each year and present an opportunity to hear
papers on current projects, attend workshops, renew contacts and discuss in
depth many of the wide range of activities in which AIMA members are
involved. Delegates come from all over Australia as well as from overseas
and have included representatives from Asia, the Pacific, Europe,
Scandinavia, USA and Canada.
 
Coordination and Liaison
AIMA maintains close connections with each of the State agencies
responsible for maritime archaeological sites. AIMA assists these agencies,
as required, with program co-ordination and by providing information for
specific projects.
 
AIMA also works closely with the Federal Government's Department of
Communications and the Arts (DCA) - the department responsible for the
Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976. This cooperation involves AIMA in projects
such as the development of Guidelines for the management of Australia's
Shipwrecks. These guidelines assist management, by organizations and the
public, in determining what conditions and criteria should apply to
maritime archaeological work on shipwreck sites. The guidelines can be
obtained form DCA.
 
Shipwreck Database
The development of a publicly accessible National Shipwrecks Database has
been an important initiative of AIMA. Each state historic shipwrecks agency
has collected information on shipwrecks over a number of years. This
information is being progressively entered onto a computer database by each
state and then combined onto the National Database. This information is now
available on the World Wide Web.
 
Ethics
The activities of AIMA members are bound by a code of ethics. These are
designed to ensure that projects, with which AIMA members are involved, are
conducted according to standards and procedures that safeguard the full
archaeological record and the integrity of archaeological collections.
 
AIMA is concerned about the growth of treasure hunting on an international
scale. Our organization petitions governments and international bodies to
support the international banning of treasure hunting.
AIMA is generously supported by the Department of Communications and the Arts.
 
About the Western Australian Maritime Museum Department of Maritime Archaeology
Archaeological material recovered from historic shipwrecks on the Western
Australian coast was a catalyst in the development of the Western
Australian Maritime Museum. The Museum is one of the few museums in the
world specifically oriented to the preservation and display of maritime
archaeological material.
Part of the work of the Maritime Archaeology Department is to register,
document and research the shipwreck collections in order to identify the
various components of the ship, its hull structure, fastenings, fittings
etc., and its contents, ship's equipment, stores, cargo, personal
possessions of the crew, and so on. Documentation begins at the shipwreck
site, as soon as objects are raised, and continues back at the Museum.
Gathering information from archival and other sources, and piecing it
together can be very time consuming. Likewise, fitting together broken
pottery sherds or fragments of inorganic and organic materials takes many
hours of patient work. But this is often the only way to discover what the
original objects were. Once the identity and origin of the artefacts are
established, an interpretation of the way particular ships were built, of
life on board, trade and other commercial shipping activities, can then be
developed. The information is incorporated into Museum exhibits and
publications. The function or use of individual objects found on a
shipwreck site is frequently determined by associated artefacts. Groups (or
assemblages) of artefacts may therefore have a particular archaeological
significance and, for this reason, are exhibited together: we could not
interpret the meaning of one without the other. Displaying maritime
archaeological material is a specialized task since many artefacts have
lost their original strength and need to be carefully supported. Others
have been reconstructed to demonstrate their original form. The maritime
archaeological collection contains material dating from the early 17th
century through to the late 19th century. It provides tangible evidence of
the early presence of English, Dutch and American seafarers on the west
coast of Australia (Trial 1622, Batavia 1629, Vergulde Draeck 1656,
Zuytdorp 1712, Zeewijk 1727 and Rapid 1811), of shipping activity
associated with British colonisation of Western Australia and of the
development of the State.
 
 
 
 
 
1997 is Maritime Year in Western Australia and there will be various
functions happening in and around the port of Fremantle.
For the latest information on this conference and updates see
http://www.mm.wa.gov.au
 
________________________________________________________________________________
The AIMA Conference coincides with the Vasco da Gama Quincentenary
Conference: A Conference on the Voyage of Vasco da Gama and 500 years of
European-Asian Encounter. The AIMA Conference is cooperating with the Vasco
da Gama Conference and it is hoped that delegates will take the opportunity
to attend both conferences. The Da Gama Conference is to be held on 21-24
June at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria (for those not familiar
with Australia this is about 1700 miles east of Perth) and 26-29 June 1997,
at Curtin University, Perth. So the Perth Conference will preced the AIMA
Conference.
 
The significance of the Vasco da Gama Voyage
The voyage of Vasco da Gama to India was the critical breakthrough in
opening up regular seaborne communications between East and West...
Vasco da Gama symbolises the start of modern East-West relations...
The Indian historian K.M. Pannikar considered the Gama voyage so important
that he labelled the next 450 years 'the Vasco da Gama epoch of Asian
history'.
 
The Vasco da Gama Quincentenary and Australia
The colonisation of Australia was one of the long term consequences of
Gama's voyage. In 1995 Sabam Siagian, Indonesia's ambassador, called
Australia 'a very unique product of the Vasco da Gama era'.
Australia is deeply engaged with its Asian neighbours. People of Asian
origin now compose a significant proportion of Australia's citizens.
Australia's universities are as strongly committed to the study of Asia as
they are to that of Europe. Australians have the appropriate background to
host a conference on Vasco da Gama and his legacy.
 
Conference Themes
1. The voyage of the Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama from Europe to
India in 1497-8, and the circumstances surrounding it.
2. Early Portuguese contacts and interactions with regions and peoples east
of the Cape of Good Hope.
3. Interactions between Europeans in general and peoples of the Indian
Ocean region, East and South-east Asia, and Australasia from the sixteenth
century onwards.
 
 
 
For further information on the AIMA Conference contact persons:
Associate Professor Jeremy Green ([log in to unmask]) PH: (61-9) 4318440
(W), 3358071 (H) or
Karen Millar ([log in to unmask]) PH: (61-9) 4318439
Department of Maritime Archaeology Fax: (61-9) 3357224
Western Australian Maritime Museum
Cliff Street
FREMANTLE
WA 6160
Western Australia
 
Vasco da Gama Conference
Melbourne: contact
Gama Conference
School of History
La Trobe University
Bundoora
Victoria 3083, Australia Ph: (61-3) 9479 2430 Fax: (61-3) 9479 1942
 
Perth
Associate Professor Kenneth McPherson ([log in to unmask])
Indian Ocean Centre
Curtin University
Bentley
Western Australia
Ph: (61-9) 2217033
Fax: (61-9) 2217020