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The undersea world of URI's Rod MatherWhen it comes to archaeology, Ian Roderick Mather--Rod for short--is all wet. When the 34-year-old Englishman isn't teaching maritime history at the University of Rhode Island, he's donning scuba gear and systematically gridding off areas around a shipwreck. Mather's latest venture was probing Newport Harbor to determine whether an old shipwreck buried under several feet of mud is the HMS Endeavour, the long-lost ship that Captain Cook sailed around the world. Mather was joined by a team of maritime archaeologists from Rhode Island and Australia. This past summer, Mather was site manager on a project involving the HMS Cerberus, a British frigate sunk during the siege of Newport during the American Revolution. The ship was located during the 1970s by URI oceanographers who surveyed Narragansett Bay. Mather directed on-site operations for the Rhode Island Marine Archeology Project and was assisted by divers from the Naval Undersea Warfare Center. The team measured, mapped and drew the site prior to excavation. Moving from the underwater lab in Newport, in June Mather accompanied six URI students and others for URI's "Summer Program in Bermuda," a maritime history and underwater archaeology field school. The two-week intensive program concentrated on the principles and practices of underwater archaeology--archival research, research design, visual and electronic survey, site identification and assessment, mapping, excavation, photography, conservation, and publication. "It was a big treat," said URI junior Bill Murphy whose love of scuba diving and a course taught by Mather inspired him to sign up for the Bermuda program. "It's amazing to come across a shipwreck and try to take everything in. I learned so much." Although underwater archaeology uses the same broad principles as land archaeology, there are numerous obstacles, according to Mather. It's colder, divers have a finite air supply, and visibility is often limited to just a few feet. It's also painstakingly slower and more expensive. While archaeologists use squares, grids, and trowels for land excavation, underwater archaeologists excavate sites using small hand-held dredges that use water or air and act like vacuum cleaners. Mather's interest in maritime archaeology began when he was a teen-ager growing up in London and volunteered to help excavate the site of a Roman wharf and dock. "Shipwrecks preserve a record of life at sea," said the URI history professor. "They can tell us what sailors ate, and how they lived." According to Mather the older shipwrecks tell a story of technology since they generally represented the most advanced technology of that day. Treasure hunters often disrupt that record by their heavy-handed looting which often destroys the ship in the process. Before coming to URI two years ago, Mather traveled the country on contract. Underwater archaeologists are needed before a new tunnel or bridge is constructed or when dredging is being considered. They generally electronically survey the area for cultural material. If any is found, construction or development plans are often altered. By Jan Sawyer |
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