Underwater Archeology Team Seeks New Clues to an Old Arctic Mystery

Parks Canada underwater archeologists return to the HMS Erebus in 2016 to document
and assess the site. (Photo: Parks Canada)

17/09/2018
AV VICTORIA HERRMANN


In the largest and most complex underwater archeology undertaking in Canadian history, a Parks Canada team heads north this week to uncover the fate of the disastrous Franklin Expedition of 1845.

Traveling more than 200 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle by boat, a team of nine underwater archeologists from Parks Canada arrived at the wreck site of HMS Erebus on Friday September 14th.

In collaboration with the Inuit Heritage Trust. the expert team will spend the next two weeks exploring the remains of English explorer Sir John Franklin’s ship. They will document and collect artifacts left behind by the crew and Franklin himself from their doomed expedition almost two centuries ago.

This mission, carried out aboard the Agency’s newest research vessel RV David Thompson, will focus on recovering items from the living quarters of the ship. The team hopes that the Arctic waters have preserved Erebus’s ship logs or captain’s journals. These artifacts may hold important clues to the route and final years of the crew. While most artifacts will never be removed from the ships, archeologists hope to collect images, videos, and scans of the wreck. Anything that is removed will be flown to Parks Canada facilities further south for preservation work.

More:
http://www.highnorthnews.com/underwater-archeology-team-seeks-new-clues-to-an-old-arctic-mystery/