Jason Raupp

Previous underwater cultural heritage investigations conducted in the western Pacific’s NorthernMariana Islands largely focused
on the submergedWorldWar Two remains, despite the islands’ rich colonial history. The island chain was the setting of numerous historical occupations including indigenous Chamorro populations, Spain, Germany, Japan and the United States, all of which created a lasting maritime heritage legacy on land and under water. This paper presents the first colonial shipwreck investigation to be undertaken by archaeologists and fills a gap in our history and knowledge of theMariana Islands’ pre-WorldWar Two era.

This paper presents the results of a magnetometer
survey and initial archaeological excavations of Macassan
and Indigenous features conducted at the Anuru Bay
Macassan trepang processing site. The archaeology of
this area is complex, containing both material reflecting
the Indigenous utilisation of coastal resources and the
periodic visits of the Macassan trepangers from Indonesia.
Despite a history of archaeological investigations
on Macassan period sites (i.e. Clarke 1994; McKnight
1976; Mitchell 1994), geophysical survey has not
previously been applied as part of these investigations.
While Macassan sites may contain features amenable to
conventional archaeological geophysics (such as iron
trepang processing pots), additional potential exists
for the application of magnetometry to locate features
created through burning, as has been applied to Australian
Indigenous sites (Bonhomme and Stanley 1985; Fanning
et al. 2009; Moffat et al. 2008 & 2010; Stanley & Green
1976; Wallis et al. 2008) and international Indigenous
sites (Abbot & Frederick 1990; Batt & Dockrill 1998; Jones
& Munson 2005). The results of this study demonstrate
that this approach is equally applicable to Macassan sites,
opening up a new and potentially fruitful avenue for
exploring the archaeology of this trade system.

In 2008 researchers from the Australian National University’s Archaeology and Natural History Department and Flinders University’s Program in Maritime Archaeology recorded nine non-Indigenous watercraft rock art images in a rock-shelter in the Wellington Range of north western Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. During the project it was recognised that one of the missing elements of interpreting watercraft in rock art was a comprehensive analytical framework that can be tested and reproduced. The development of such a framework can be used by future researchers to begin addressing the larger issues and considerations represented in non-Indigenous watercraft depictions across Australia.

By far not a novel approach, the Saipan WWII maritime heritage project is yet another example of how “many hands make light work.” This project was conceptualized as an inclusive and collaborative effort to include academia, nonprofit, government agency, and the local community in the study of Saipan’s WWII submerged heritage. By taking this approach, it was hoped that more could be accomplished with
fewer resources and a sense of stewardship for long-term preservation would take hold of the island. This chapter discusses the approach, methodology, and recording of Saipan’s WWII maritime heritage.

This paper examines a group of Aboriginal bark-paintings featuring Macassan praus that were collected in 1948 during the American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land. These paintings were studied in an effort to understand issues related to Aboriginal and Macassan cross-cultural interaction, stylistic adaptation and change, and maritime technologies. Furthermore it is one example in which the collaborative efforts of maritime and Indigenous archaeologies can achieve a more holistic technological and stylistic cross-analysis of watercraft imagery.© 2009 The Authors

Previous underwater cultural heritage investigations conducted in the western Pacific's Northern Mariana Islands largely focused on the submerged World War Two remains, despite the islands’ rich colonial history. The island chain was the setting of numerous historical occupations including indigenous Chamorro populations, Spain, Germany, Japan and the United States, all of which created a lasting maritime heritage legacy on land and under water. This paper presents the first colonial shipwreck investigation to be undertaken by archaeologists and fills a gap in our history and knowledge of the Mariana Islands’ pre-World War Two era.