This book explores the historical and archaeological evidence of the relationships between a coastal community and the shipwrecks that have occurred along the southern Australian shoreline over the last 160 years. It moves beyond a focus on shipwrecks as events and shows the short and long term economic, social and symbolic significance of wrecks and strandings to the people on the shoreline. This volume draws on extensive oral histories, documentary and archaeological research to examine the tensions within the community, negotiating its way between its roles as shipwreck saviours and salvors.

Author Biography

Dr. Brad Duncan is the State Maritime Archaeologist responsible for the Maritime Heritage Program at NSW Heritage Branch, Parramatta Australia. He specialises in maritime cultural landscapes, historic maritime infrastructure studies, and fishing and defence landscapes. His current research projects include regional interpretation of the maritime cultural landscapes of coastal and inland waterways, the archaeology of shipbreaking and adaptive reuse of hulks, deep water wrecks, WWII sites in the Solomon Islands, and remote sensing of convict sites on Norfolk Island.

Dr. Martin Gibbs is Professor of Australian Archaeology at the University of New England, Australia. His maritime interests include the archaeology of maritime industries, cultural aspects of shipwreck site formation, shipwreck survivors, and the processes of maritime colonisation. Current research projects include the archaeology of the 16th century Spanish explorations and failed colonies of the Solomon Islands and studies of the convict system in Australia. He is also the author of ‘The Shore whalers of Western Australia: Historical Archaeology of a Maritime Frontier’ (University of Sydney Press, 2010).

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