“Boat and Ship Archaeology” conference

The 14thInternational Symposium on Boat and Ship Archaeology (ISBSA) will be held from 21st to 25th September 2015 in the National Maritime Museum in Gdańsk (NMM). Organized every three years, the conference is one of the most prestigious academic events, dedicated to maritime and underwater archaeologists.

The last few years were marked by exceptional achievements of the National Maritime Museum in Gdańsk in the field of boat and ship archaeology. Excavation of a punt from Martwa Wisła, publication of a full monograph on “The Copper Ship” and works conducted on the Shipwreck Virtual Open-Air Museum provide a confirmation of an active role of the Museum in this field. The fact of being entrusted with organization of the International Symposium on Boat and Ship Archaeology (the second time in the history of the conference) is the result of many years of work and a number of achievements on the part of researchers related to NMM.

This year, the programme of the conference is dedicated to changes in shipbuilding. The final programme of the symposium was approved by the Programme Committee during the meeting which took place on 16thand 17thFebruary 2015 at NMM. The committee is comprised of the organizers of the previous three conferences: Prof. Nergis Gunsenin from Istanbul, Ronald Bockius, PhD from Mainz, Prof. Andre van Holk and Benno van Tilburg from Amsterdam, as well as NMM representatives: Director Jerzy Litwin, PhD and Waldemar Ossowski, PhD. After long discussions, 72 most interesting propositions were chosen among over 100 papers submitted from around the world. Additionally, the Committee selected over 30 poster presentations. Foreign guests emphasized a very high level of the submitted synopses of presentations, therefore the conference organized at the National Maritime Museum is expected to become a significant academic event in the field of boat and ship archaeology.

Researchers from around the world, e.g. from Vietnam, Germany, France, Sweden, USA, Norway and Israel, Australia and Canada, are among the invited guests, specialists and experts in their respective fields. Prof. Sean McGrail of the University of Oxford, the organizer of the first ISBSA conference which was held in Greenwich in 1976, will open the first day of the symposium. Prof. Yaacov Kahanov of the University of Haifa, will present a paper on the Ma’agan Michael shipwreck. Fred Hocker, PhD will discuss the topic of reconstruction of naval guns from the historic sailing ship “Vasa”, and Prof. Eric Rieth from France will present the topic of 17th century French inland ships of river Somme.

Iwona Pomian, the Head of NMM Underwater Archaeology Department, will discuss recent achievements and plans of the Museum related to archaeological discoveries. Tomasz Bednarz and Janusz Różycki will present the results of research works conducted in the Gulf of Gdańsk with the use of photogrammetry and 3D documentation, and Waldemar Ossowski, PhD will present the topic of shipwrecksfrom the Vistula River as examples of longue durée of transport system. Moreover, Krzysztof Zamościński of the Maritime Ethnology Department will discuss the topic of hide boats on the lower Dnieper River.