Shipwreck survivor camps: A neglected terrestrial component of maritime archaeology in South Africa

Abstract

In South Africa there has been limited systematic investigation of shipwreck survivor camps as an archaeological phenomenon. In most cases these sites are investigated purely as an adjunct to work on the associated wreck. The aim of this paper is to explore a basic approach to research on shipwreck survivor camps. Recent work on the location of the São João survivor camp using historical archaeological investigations proved to be successful. During the development of the methodology for this project, it became apparent that a vast amount of knowledge may be gained by studying the behavioural patterns of the survivors themselves, knowledge otherwise not represented in the archaeological record. This paper will not supply the reader with the latest step-by-step methodology in finding shipwreck survivor camps. It simply explores and introduces a new way of thinking that has developed world-wide in the field of maritime archaeology, thinking that is not only more anthropologically orientated, but presents the collaboration of archaeology, history and even psychology with one goal in mind: creating predictive models of shipwreck survivor behaviour. Maritime archaeologist Martin Gibbs has introduced this direction of thinking to his field in Australia, where his research has delivered some very interesting results. The question posed by this paper is: whether this particular approach will be accepted and explored by maritime archaeologists in South Africa. In addition, this paper also aims to encourage maritime archaeologists in South Africa to broaden their research to go beyond simply locating shipwreck survivor camps and concentrating on comparing the artefacts found there.