\ ,, MARINE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEYING TECHNIQUES TRAINING THROUGH THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII MARINE OPTION PROGRAM Steve H. Russell Marine Option Program School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology University of Hawaii Marine Sciences Building 229 1000 Pope Road Honolulu, HI 96822 The University of Hawaii Marine Option Program (MOP) has a twenty-year history of providing experiential marine educational opportunities to undergraduates in the University of Hawaii system. The program includes personalized internships, field trips, credit and non-credit courses, seminars. symposia, and workshops. One of MOP's annual workshops offers basic training in marine archaeological surveying techniques. A symposium on marine archaeology and maritime history of Hawaii immediately preceding the workshop exposes participants to the academic and policy aspects of marine archaeology while the in-water workshop trains students in the practical side of planning and implementing a small-scale survey and mapping exercise of a submerged archaeological site. Students participating in the three-day workshop prepare by becoming University of Hawaii Authorized Divers. a process which includes CPRIArst Aid training, a medical screening and dive physical, and a checkout dive by the University of Hawaii Diving Safety Officer. Instruction during the workshop includes developing a site survey plan; improving underwater observation skills: implementing non-destructive surveying techniques using baseline transecting methods, triangulation, photo-mosaics, video scans; and developing scientific diving skills, underwater teamwork and communications. Topside, the students learn basic mapping skills and data analysis. Through participation in the workshop, students become more aware of submerged cultural resources and the policy-making process involved in submerged historical site preservation and protection. The basic skills gained from the workshop prepare a student to work as a para-professional diving archaeological assistant under the supervision of professional marine archaeologists. INTRODUCTION The Marine Option Program (MOP) at the University of Hawaii (UH) is an experiential ocean education program which serves undergraduates and graduates in the ten-campus system. Students in the program come from a wide variety of fields of study but share a common desire to learn about oceans· many facets. Undergraduates may earn a certificate from the program by completing 9 • 12 credits in ocean-related courses and a personalized internship or research project (Maynard 1984). Many of the approximately 400 undergraduates enrolled in the program are natural science majors. However, a growing number of social science and humanities majors are enrolling to take advantage of the unique learning opportunities offered by MOP's experience-based programs. With this in mind, MOP has developed an annual marine archaeology and maritime history symposium and marine archaeological surveying techniques workshop to provide learning opportunities for students with interests in maritime history, marine archaeology, anthropology, Pacific Island studies, marine geography, marine policy, and scientific diving. Besides broadening the programs' opportunities and attracting students outside the natural sciences to the program, MOP's motivation in developing a workshop in basic marine archaeological UNIHI-SEAGRANT-WW-90-17 ' nrer::a:1cna1 ?ac:f1ca Scientdic 01v1n9 ... 1991 r:. ' skills was influenced by the passage of the Abandoned Shipwreck Act of 1987 (Public Law 100·298 28 April 1988; Abandoned Shipwreck Act Guidelines, 1989) which recognized each state's authority over the recovery of embedded, abandoned, and historic shipwrecks (Giesecke 1989). Currently, the State of Hawaii has no laws which regulate submerged cultural resources and no formal plan to change the situation. The annual symposium and workshop organized by MOP will hopefully solidify various interested parties and agencies in promoting legislation at the state level to protect Hawaii's submerged cultural resources. PLANNING ANO PRE-WORKSHOP PREPARATION Preparations for the symposium and workshop. which are held during the last week of March (UH spring break), start approximately seven months in advance. Funding Like many new educational programs, MOP's initiative in developing a marine archaeology educational program has experienced the normal difficulties in securing adequate funding. With MOP general funds, in-kind assistance from a co-sponsor (Hawaii Maritime Center), registration fees, low· level corporate financial support in the form of student scholarships, and much volunteer participation on the part of symposium speakers and workshop staff, the program has managed to operate on a budget of approximately $5,000 annually. Presenters Since first offering the workshop in spring 1989, MOP has invited professional maritime archaeologists and historians from outside of Hawaii to speak at the symposium and to instruct the workshop. This allows participants to learn from a variety of professionals and to be exposed to their personal involvement in past and current projects as well as to their individual approaches to marine archaeological research, surveys, and maritime history. The cost of bringing this one speaker/Workshop instructor to Hawaii each year accounts for approximately 40% of the operating budget. Other speakers at the symposia have included an impressive group of in-state professionals in the fields of anthropology, archaeology, history, and museum science who participate on a voluntary basis. Without their voluntary involvement, the program would not experience its current level of success. Venues Venues for the symposium and workshop are other crucial considerations that must be worked out well in advance. The symposium has been enthusiastically co-sponsored from the start by the Hawaii Maritime Center, which has provided excellent auditorium facilities for the symposium. Workshop sites have included the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology Lab at Coconut Island, Oahu; the University of Hawaii at Manoa swimming pool; and various dive sites on Oahu where man-made structures can be found on the seabed. Student Preparation At the beginning of the fall semester, potential student participants are informed of the upcoming workshop through various recruitment efforts by MOP staff and students who have attended previous workshops. Interested students are given reference materials to prepare them for the workshop, and are advised on the application procedure. which includes becoming a University of Hawaii Authorized Scientific Diver. To fulfill this requirement, students must hold a nationally recognized scuba certification, have current CPR and First Aid training, pass a medical dive physical, and successfully complete a checkout dive with the University's Diving Safety Officer (University of Hawaii 1987). Requirements and procedures for acquiring UH Scientific Diver authorization are determined by guidelines set forth by the American Academy of Underwater Sciences. 80 Russell: Marine Archaeological Surveying Techniques SYMPOSIUM AND WORKSHOP PROGRAM The three-day symposium is held immediately preceding the workshop. Open to the general public. the symposium is attended by school teachers. representatives of state and federal agencies who are involved with historic preservation, students. museum employees, volunt~ers, and members of the community with personal interests in maritime history and archaeology. The three-day, in-water wori<shop follows the symposium. and is open only to those who are UH Scientific Divers, mainly UH system students. The foremost symposium/workshop objective is to instill a conservation ethic within the students regarding the significance of cultural and historical resources found in marine environments. Emphasis is placed on the value of potential information from artifact assemblages in situ, as opposed to any value the artifacts themselves might have when taken out of context. Other objectives include basic training in planning and implementing a site survey using non-destructive methods (mapping, photography, and video documentation), improving scientific diving skills and communications, and preparing students to work as para-professionals on marine archaeological survey projects under the supervision of professional archaeologists. Through participation in the workshop, it is expected that students will have a much greater awareness of submerged cultural and historical resources in Hawaii and elsewhere. This introduction, it is hoped, will encourage students to pursue additional academic training and careers in thi_s relatively new marine field. The symposium/workshop program includes a variety of topics which reflect the research and interests of the invited speakers. In general, the program guidelines encompass all topics relating to maritime archaeology and history of the Pacific basin. Hawaii's maritime heritage is ~ven priority in the program planning process, however, a Pacific-wide focus gives participants a broader exposure to the techniques and methods used elsewhere that have potential application to Hawaii's future needs in the field of marine archaeology (Table 1). Table 1. Summary of symposium topics, 1989-1991 1989 Historic shipwreck archaeology Post contact and the whaling era Hawaii's maritime history Polynesian voyaging Open-ocean navigation without instruments Artifact conservation Reconstructing prehistoric fishing strategies Kayaking to remote archaeological