Abstract
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) regulates offshore energy development on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) of the United States. As part of the environmental review process of permitted industry activities, BOEM requires oil and gas operators to conduct an archaeological and benthic biological geophysical survey and, if necessary, remotely operated vehicle or diver investigations in their areas of operation. We therefore have detailed archaeological data of deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico at a scale much greater than anywhere else in the world. These surveys have identified well over 100 shipwrecks in deep water. In the last couple of decades, BOEM has funded or supported multidisciplinary research on many of these deep-water shipwrecks. Recently, BOEM scientists have designed research projects that treat archaeology, biology, and geochemistry as equal with regard to project goals. By integrating research efforts, new insights and discoveries have been made, for example with regard to biological community structure relative to archaeological material properties and mutual site formation. This chapter synthesizes the evolution of several of these research endeavors and the discoveries that could only have been achieved through this type of integrated multidisciplinary research.
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Notes
- 1.
Beginning with the post–World War II development of SCUBA technology and the pioneering underwater exploration and research by Jacques-Yves Cousteau.
- 2.
For ease of narrative, this chapter uses “seafloor” to refer to the sediment matrix in which archaeological resources are either on or embedded regardless of which type of body of water it is under. This may include oceans, bays, estuaries, lakes, ponds, rivers, and so forth.
- 3.
For current archaeological requirements see NTL-2005-G07 and NTL-2011-JOINT-G01 (https://www.boem.gov/Environmental-Stewardship/Archaeology/Gulf-of-Mexico-Archaeological-Information.aspx).
- 4.
The depths of the seven shipwrecks range from 87 to 1964 m.
- 5.
The names of the wooden vessels are unknown. These identifiers are related to the location in the Gulf of Mexico in which they were found or a conspicuous feature on the site.
- 6.
For example, BOEM does not have a fleet of research vessels, deep-water ROV equipment, or laboratory facilities.
- 7.
The identities of the Monterrey Shipwrecks are unknown. Monterrey refers to the oil field prospect on which they were discovered. They are referred to as Monterrey A, Monterrey B, and Monterrey C because that was the order in which they were ground-truthed and investigated.
- 8.
Telepresence is real-time high definition audio, video, and computer feeds transmitted by satellite via the Internet II network. Participants at on-shore stations have access to incoming data as if they were on the vessel. Audio and video feeds are also live-streamed to the public via the internet.
- 9.
An archaeological shovel test is a small excavation, typically one foot in diameter, that is used to determine if further investigation and excavation is warranted at a particular location. The water jet and suction system was used to collect this material in the ROV’s storage tanks for screening at the surface.
- 10.
See Palacios et al. (2006) for an example.
- 11.
That the wooden sailing vessels age ranges clustered into only a few decades was luck. The ages of the vessels had not been previously determined before the commencement of this project.
- 12.
2012—R/V Okeanos Explorer; 2013—R/V Nautilus; and 2014—R/V Okeanos Explorer.
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Caporaso, A., Warren, D.J., Gittings, S.R. (2018). The Evolution of Recent Multidisciplinary Deep-Water Archaeological and Biological Research on the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf. In: Souza, M., Costa, D. (eds) Historical Archaeology and Environment. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90857-1_10
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