The Great Lakes Historical Society’s Peachman Lake Erie Shipwreck Research Center (GLHS/PLESRC) and the Maritime Archaeological Survey Team (MAST) will be conducting their annual Nautical Archaeology Workshop April 30-May 1, 2011 with skills practice dives scheduled for May 21 or 22. The workshop teaches divers why underwater archaeology is important, how they can impact and protect Ohio’s wrecks, techniques they will use during shipwreck surveys and much, much more. For a good idea of what the weekend will be like you can visit http://ohio-archaeology.blogspot.com/2007_04_01_archive.html .
In conjunction with the workshop, MAST will hold their annual dinner on the evening of April 30th at the Elyria Holiday Inn. This years Keynote Speaker is Dr. Brian Redmond, Curator and Head of Archaeology, Cleveland Museum of Natural History. His topic will be The Danbury Site: Clues about early Ohioans and their relationship to Lake Erie
“The Danbury Site was discovered in 1977 on the southern coast of the Marblehead peninsula in Sandusky Bay. The site was believed to be Late Woodland (500 1000 AD) and was professionally excavated from 2003-2007 by archaeologists from the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. The finds show a society of seasonal habitation that was using pits to store food, including fish from the lake. There is a lot to be learned about the society from the burial practices, which have been found in abundance at the Danbury site. Evidence suggests a more permanent settlement with greater reliance on the Lake and horticulture in the Late-Prehistoric Period (1000 1750 AD).”
Both events are open to the diving and non-diving public. For more information on the workshop and dinner you can go to http://www.ohiomast.org/Webpages/PDF_Flyers/2011WorkshopFlyer1.pdf
Post by Linda Pansing
