Page 155 - Kennemerland VOC ship, 1664 - Published Reports

The InternationalJournal of Nautical Archaeology (1991) 20.2: 111-122
The Kennemerland site. An Interim Report. The sixth and seventh
seasons, 1984 & 1987, and the identification of five golf clubs C.T. C.Dobbs
WoodhouseCottage,Idsworth, Waterlooville,Hants PO8 OAN, UK
R.A. Price HeathHouse,BollingtonCross,Macclesjeld,CheshireSKlO 5EL,UK
Introduction
The Kennemerland was a Dutch East-Indiaman outward-bound from Amsterdam to Batavia which sank off the Out Skerries, Shetland, in December 1664. She was travelling by the route around Scotland to avoid the danger of hostile English shipping in the Channel. The back- ground to the sinkingand to previousexcavations has already been published in this journal (Forster&Higgs,1973;Price&Muckelroy,1974; 1977; 1979). For 6 years no diving took place on the site, partly because of the tragic death of the archaeological director, Keith Muckelroy, at another archaeological site in 1980. The present interim report covers the excavation seasons of 1984 and 1987 and a brief visit in 1988, all carried out with the first author as archaeological director.
In 1984, five objects from the site were ident- ified as the heads of early golf clubs, leading to a similar set of artefacts being recognized among earlier discoveries from the wreck of the Lasrdrager (Stenuit, 1991). The clubs described below are also considered in that paper.
Strategy and methods
One of the aims of the excavations is to provide data concerning the distribution of objects on a scattered site so as to create interpretive models of the development of wreck sites. It is only necessary for the reader to consult Maritime Archaeology (Muckelroy, 1978: 196214) to see the potential of this approach. The strategy for the two seasons was to spend most of the time continuing the excavation on the main site and to undertake only limited investigation in other areas.
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The original base-line was established by relocating the precise datum points used in the earlier excavations and the proposed area of work was cleared of kelp and large boulders. Excavation then proceeded using the advancing front method (Price & Muckelroy, 1974: 259; 1977: 191). The 1984 excavation started at a point 27 m along the datum line where the 1978 excavation had ceased (Fig. I). In 1987 work continuedonthissite(J),uptothe11mmarkso as to link sites A, B and C.
At the end of the season, the exposed section at the excavation face some 300 to 400mm high was shored up for protection by building a barrier of large flat stones behind the section to minimise erosion. An inspection in the summer of 1988 showed that this barrier was still dis- cernible and had therefore been effective. Such methods of protection are becoming more common on underwater sites, and the procedure can be recommended even for shallow trenches on exposed and scattered sites as well as for more intact shipwreck sites.
Distributions
The Kennemerland provided data for Muckelroy’s theoretical approaches to wreck evolution, particularly in respect of scattered sites (1975; 1978). For the data obtained in
1984 and 1987, Muckelroy’s 13 identified cate- gories of artefact have been retained, although recent writers have recommended alternative classifications(Reinders, 1985).
I Stoneware sherds
I1 Green bottle-glass fragments I11 Pewter bottle tops
0 1991 The Nautical Archaeology Society