Submerged NC: Maritime Archaeology – Exploring and Discovering Shipwrecks

October 7, 2021

America's greatest museum of our past as a seafaring nation lies on the bottom of our nation's ocean, seas, lakes, and rivers. That heritage is a legacy of thousands of years of settlement, exploration, immigration, harvesting the bounty of the sea, and creating coastal communities and maritime traditions. Shipwrecks offer an exciting window into the study and preservation of our past. They are a random sampling of voyages and a record of past trade and communication. It's almost as if they are frozen in time, giving a fresh perspective on history and acting as valuable classrooms. Archaeology is the study of the ancient and recent past, and maritime archaeology offers a rare glimpse into these submerged historical resources and the landscape that surrounds them.

Join Shannon Ricles, Education and Outreach Coordinator for Monitor National Marine Sanctuary to dive into maritime archaeology. Explore its early beginnings, and learn about maritime archaeology as a career. Discover how technology has changed the tools used to explore shipwrecks, while you dive into the waters off North Carolina. Learn how NOAA and partners work to conserve and protect submerged historical resources and grasp the significance of a World War II battlefield located just off the North Carolina coast. Hear how maritime archaeologists and technology discovered three shipwrecks that give us greater insight into World War II's Battle of the Atlantic.

Preview a free STEM curriculum guide designed to help students understand maritime archaeology. Activities in the guide explore ships through time, the people of maritime archeology, the tools they use, and shipwreck ethics and conservation. This free curriculum guide, Maritime Archaeology – Discovering and Exploring Shipwrecks is designed for grades 6-12.