Page 8 - Kennemerland VOC ship, 1664 - Published Reports

Specialist Report (1976)
This study attempts to interpret the relationship between documentary and archaeological evidence for the excavated wreck of a post-medieval ship of the type that has dominated British maritime archaeology in recent years. The Kennemerland, a merchant ship of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) left the Texel on 14 December 1664 (NS) bound for the East Indies but aiming to pass north of Britain to avoid naval activity in the English Channel. She struck Stoura Stack in the Out Skerries, Shetland, on 20th December and quickly disintegrated. Only three men survived.
Considerable salvage activity was carried out by local people, but most of their winnings were seized by agents of the Earl of Morton, who claimed possession by virtue of his position as Vice-Admiral of Orkney and Shetland. At the instigation of Charles II, the Exchequer in Edinburgh disputed possession with the Earl, and he was deprived of the goods, along with his position. The king subsequently granted rights of salvage to the Earl of Kincardine and it is the comprehensive records of these extended proceedings (including an inventory of the items thought to be on the ship) that form the basic documentary record for the loss. Theoretically, the various processes acting on the remains may be considered as either filters extracting material from the assemblage or as scrambling devices rearranging the patterns within it. This paper illustrates the validity and potential of this approach.
(For system outputs, arranged by artifact-type, see tab. 1. For map of the site, see fig. 7). Summary by RCAHMS (RJCM) Undated
Source: K Muckelroy 1976.
Change Of Classification (1977)
Assigned to class 3 ('dispersed but stable'). Source: K Muckelroy 1977.
Excavation (June 1978 - September 1978)
The investigations carried out on the wreck between June and September 1978 aimed to investigate areas left undisturbed in previous years, and to locate the limits of the site through wide-ranging visual and metal-detector surveys. The remains were afforded statutory protection through Designation under the Protection of Wrecks Act shortly before the start of the season.
Discoveries revealed no contextual or stratigraphic information which would require major modifications to previous interpretations. Several timbers and a further four lead ingots were discovered while further investigation of the concretion in the gully showed this to comprise nails and round shot with underlying yellow bricks.
A further concentration of material was found NW of Stoura Stack and close to Pirrie Strack; this contained rope, lead sheeting, pewter bottle tops and green glass fragments. A further cannon was found to the E, on a ledge on the S face of Cella Stack and at a depth of about 17m; this must reflect the northwards progress of the foundering vessel. Excavation in shallow water revealed an extensive scatter of finds, including a complete stoneware flagon. Further bricks (but no other artifacts) were found at a depth of about 30m (the limit of safe diving) about 400m SW of Ubda.