A Decade of Diving, Delving and Disseminating.
£12
A Decade of Diving, Delving and Disseminating
Review of:
Sparks, B., Momber, G & Satchell, J (2001). A Decade of Diving, Delving and Disseminating: The Hampshire & Wight Trust for Maritime Archaeology 1991-2001. Southampton: Hampshire & Wight Trust for Maritime Archaeology. ISBN 0-9538814-0-8
Although only eighty pages long, this volume - published to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Hampshire & Wight Trust for Maritime Archaeology - is in many ways the embodiment of everything that those who know the HWTMA have come to admire about it. Lean and forthright on the one hand: dynamic, distinctive, innovative and above all vastly enthusiastic on the other. As such it is both fitting tribute to all those involved in such an intense 'decade of diving, delving and disseminating', and inspiration surely for the next ten years too. After an introductory chapter outlining the unique nature and origins of the HWTMA (a model for other County Councils with coastlines to follow?), the volume rapidly moves onto a series of broadly themed chapters detailing the three main concerns of the HWTMA over the past ten years - namely shipwrecks, intertidal environments, and submerged - particularly prehistoric - landscapes. Thus in chapter two we see discussion of the Pomone, Alum Bay and Hazardous wreck sites, in chapter three intertidal projects along, in, on and under Langstone, Portsmouth and Chichester harbours, the Itchen, Beaulieu and Hamble rivers and the coast of the New Forest, and in chapter four the submerged landscapes off Wooton Quarr and Bouldnor Cliff. The risk in a volume such as this is of course that each case-study is presented alone, without an obvious link to any of the others, resulting in much information of value, but little appreciation of the broader significance of each site. It is of credit to the HWTMA that this potential fate has been avoided. Rather, each chapter places these different sites into a wider analytical framework, the overall contents of each chapter then further relating to one-another. The result is a coherent and punchy narrative which moves beyond simple description and into properly interpretative archaeology. The range of different maritime archaeological sites that exist today, their potential as sources of unique information about past 'maritime cultural landscapes', the benefits of undertaking a 'seamless' approach to coastal archaeology, and the need for a more coherent government policy towards our maritime heritage are just some of the important themes emphasised by these chapters. These also show how much can be achieved by a small, dedicated team when aided by enthusiastic volunteers. A succinct conclusion then rounds up the volume, focusing in particular upon the research methodology of the HWTMA and its future aims and objectives. This is followed by six appendices which highlight both the amount of outreach undertaken over the years, and also the diverse range of individuals and organisations which the HWTMA have successfully persuaded to part with time and/or money ! The overall result - handsomely packaged and well illustrated - is then at once an excellent picture of the current state of the HWTMA, an overview of the Solent as a unique archaeological landscape of as great significance as any on dry-land, and a very good demonstration of the wider - as yet largely unfulfilled - potential of the maritime archaeological resource around the coast of Great Britain. Equal parts memory, testimony and clarion call for the future, this volume would thus be a worthwhile addition to any bookshelf.
Joe Flatman