CONCLUSION

THE FLORIDA EAST COAST SHIPWRECK PROJECT:

PRODUCTION AND

EVOLUTION DURING

EIGHTEEN YEARS OF COOPERATION,

The history of the Florida East Coast Shipwreck Project (FECSP) is a fascinating view into the developing awareness of archaeological concerns by the salvage industry. In fact, it gives us a real gauge with which to measure the development of the discipline of underwater archaeology and the private sector salvage community in general. It allows us the opportunity to examine the development of both endeavors in conjunction with ideological and technological advances that have made archaeological interpretation of these sites possible in a very real sense.

Starting in 1983 with the signing of the court-ordered agreement between Cobb Coin Co. Inc. and the Department of State, a nearly twenty-year relationship between the private sector and a government agency began. This was, at the time, a very progressive step into the private – public models in resource management that are much more established today. Although there were times when the two entities did not see eye to eye there has always been a resolution of disputes that avoided returns to court. This relationship has been a great benefit to both the private sector concerns involved in the FECSP and the people of the State of Florida, as donations of up to 20% of every years’ recoveries are made to the State to hold in trust for the people of the State of Florida. The donation for the 2000 season is attached as appendix "A". Over the past ten years, more than 1,500 artifacts have been donated to the State of Florida to hold in trust for the public. The majority of these items would be considered unique and highly desirable in any collection. Estimated total value of these artifacts is in excess of $2,500,000.

The Department in the State of Florida responsible for the liaisons between private sector and State has changed names over time and is now known as the

Department of Archaeological Research (DAR). Heading up this Department for those twenty years has been Mr. James Miller who administrates for the State of Florida.

The Mel Fisher Center Inc. is the direct descendant of Cobb Coin Co. Inc. This corporation is responsible for administrating and overseeing the activities of its’ subcontractors and making sure that the archaeological and environmental requirements agreed to are understood by all participants. Director of Operations at the Mel Fisher Center is Taffi Fisher Abt, daughter of the late Mel Fisher. In the last decade, Mel Fisher Center, Inc. has engaged employment for at least 1,500 people in fieldwork, systematically excavating the wrecks more than 8,000 days, recovering in excess of 38,500 artifacts.

The ships of the 1715 Fleet covered by the FECSP are all widely scattered sites. The vast area covered by the sites of approximately 60 square miles represents the secondary and mostly tertiary associations of these ships (Gould pgs. 54-59). Unfortunately, primary associations on most of these sites usually only consist of a ballast mound that has been thoroughly excavated. There is also one 1618 ship and at least three 1800 ships mingled with or overlapping the 1715 wreckage.

The challenge of these sites has always been their dispersed nature. In early archaeological investigations into these sites it was at first thought there was no archaeology to be done because of their scattered nature. This scatter was originally caused by the Hurricane which sealed the fate of the ships. It has been further exacerbated because the location is in a high energy, shallow water, close to shore proximity making them vulnerable. In other words, these sites were a chaotic jumble from which no meaning could be retrieved. (Murphy, 1978).

Economically speaking, there is a domino effect that touches many industries not usually associated with salvage. One such industry is cultural tourism (including airlines, hotels, rental car agencies, advertising, moving companies, exhibit designers, etc..) Our museum/gift store has generated sales in excess of $2,600,000 over the last decade and that money went back into the general mainstream of commerce. There have been hundreds of documentaries, books, periodical articles, and even school texts written with this venture as their main subject. Many prestigious production companies have also focused on this expedition such as Discovery Channel, National Geographic, A&E, etc…! Copies of these books and videos. then get watched on TV, in the schools and libraries, rented in video-rental stores, and sold in bookstores & video stores, spreading not only economic gain but also knowledge and education to the general public. The literary and film production fields are therefore also affected generating a substantial income to the industries of writers, news crews, TV and movie production companies, advertising agencies, etc…! On this expedition alone in the past 8 years, our corporation has spent more than 2.5 million dollars in expenses at local dive shops, marinas, fuel docks, grocery stores, welders, diesel engine mechanics, payroll, etc….again money that went back into the general mainstream of commerce.

It was in 1978 that R. Duncan Mathewson III first hypothesized that, far from having no meaning, if carefully mapped these dispersed sites had the potential to reveal much archaeological information. He called this theory "horizontal stratigraphy." (Mathewson, R.D. 1978) By breaking the ship down into various activity areas there are specific types of material culture (artifacts) associated with each area. These in turn show up on the sea bottom in patterns that can be detected. The detecting of these patterns allows the archaeologist to postulate the sequence of events associated with the breakup and dispersal of the material. It also allows for more educated theories of human behavior onboard the vessel as well as where classes of artifact materials (certain types) can reasonably be expected to be found. (this last aspect is very important to the private sector).

Soon after the agreement between Cobb Coin Co. Inc. and the State of Florida was signed, a guidelines committee was formed to set forth the minimum

archaeological mapping requirements for the continued work on these sites. This set of guidelines has been in use since that time. The basic reason for these guidelines was to standardize and maximize the amount of information being gathered as salvage activities continued.

The precise mapping of materials as they occur on the site is an attempt to maintain and interpret contextual relationships of materials both on the seabed and their individual point of origin aboard the vessel. This is what archaeology is all about. "The archaeologists primary task is to record the physical associations at a site as fully as possible, (emphasis mine) but this does not mean that all associations can in fact be explained". (Gould, pg. 60)

The archaeological guidelines and nearly two decades of continuous fieldwork have done what no archaeological excavation could have accomplished - intensive and wide ranging excavations and recoveries from these highly dispersed shipwrecks. Thanks to the Archaeological Guidelines an enormous amount of relational data has been saved. These guidelines have worked very well and those that formulated them can be proud of the results.

A review of the last twenty years of work on the 1715 fleet shows that the majority of the time the mapping was accomplished using sextant bearings to beach markers that although adequate, left much to the individual skills of the person taking the bearings. The mapping of the fleet has recently undergone a dramatic change partly due to the abilities of affordable computers. Mostly this change is due to the advent of availability to the public of Differential Global Positioning Technology (DGPS). This now allows the individual subcontractor the ability to collect provenance data for each recovery to within +/- three feet. This is on sites that are scattered in some instances over 4 miles, underwater and under tons of sand. It is truly a quantum leap in information gathering.

Not being satisfied with just using the new technology on current efforts, the Mel Fisher Center Director of Operations and the archaeological staff with help from outside consultants constructed mathematical formulas that would allow the tedious and complicated conversion of sextant bearings from past years into latitude and longitude coordinates - the same as used by the new DGPS technology. Once this data was entered, the results were astounding to say the least. The program begins to fill in the individual finds that have been broken down into various categories such as pottery, porcelain, copper, iron, silver object,

silver coin, ballast and so on. The broad outlines appear of the scatter these ships left both from the initial wrecking and as a product of the processes of the environment over the centuries.

At close-up the individual items that have been recovered are revealed. These in turn can be clicked on to bring up the artifact data screen and all that is known about that particular item. As this was being compiled the Mel Fisher Center requested and received copies of any and all field notes turned into the state from the time that they started to be kept. This effort is leading to the construction of an archival database from which one will be able to extract much useful information. The latest effort is to incorporate aerial photographs of the sites. As of this writing only the sites that occur in Indian River County are available, but when added to the mapping program the results show clearly the tertiary scatter associations running parallel to the shoal lines inshore, away from and perpendicular to the primary impact area.

As a group the Mel Fisher Center, Inc. is leading the way to press for a reforming of the Archaeological Guidelines Committee so that the guidelines can reflect the increased sensitivity on the part of the salvage community, and the current state of technology. MFC is in the process of formulating a set of standards and ethics that will be presented, after which, have all subcontracting salvors agree to these standards and ethics, and organize into a professional organization. We believe that this is a natural progression or evolution and that, increasingly, any serious shipwreck explorer should be aware of and in agreement if not total harmony with archaeological methods and concerns.

Seventeen years of dedicated work has shown the effectiveness of this cooperative effort. What has been accomplished could only have been done through the efforts of both the public institution (DAR) and the motivation of the private sector. These shipwrecks were discovered by private individuals and have been worked since the 1960's under contract with the State of Florida. The success of this teamwork cannot be measured in profit terms alone because there have also been great strides socially, educationally, and in resource management itself. The yearly reports on the recoveries and activities undertaken on these sites details the steady progress that the salvor has shown toward a better understanding of the needs of the archaeologist and the importance of preserving this cultural resource. Indeed there has been so much intense interest from the salvage community that

they have formed the Historic Shipwreck Salvage Policy Council that has helped to formulate State and Federal policy towards the resource that seeks to include all interested parties. In the coming years, Mel Fisher Center, Inc. intends to continue in the cooperative light as has been evidenced in the past and will strive to unlock more of the mysteries associated with the Shipwrecks of the 1715 Spanish Plate Fleet.