Storms – 16th January 2014

The SAMPHIRE team has been investigating several intertidal wreck sites over the course of 2013. The recent storms have removed much of the beach sand around Scotland’s coast and this has led to numerous archaeological discoveries throughout Great Britain and Ireland.

  • A shipwreck was newly exposed and excavated in Newquay
  • A wreck dating to 1903 was uncovered in Ireland
  • In Wales, a prehistoric forest dating to 10,000 years ago was exposed, along with two cannon from the Napoleanic Era

If you have come across any newly exposed wrecks or similar material this winter we would love to hear it and we may be able to help you investigate with professional archaeologists.

Storms like these also have the potential to erode and damage archaeological sites on land.  Prehistoric sites throughout Scotland and Ireland have been impacted by the recent storms including an Iron Age burial in Shetland.

And a coastal midden in Ireland.

Scottish Coastal Archaeology and the Problem of Erosion (SCAPE) is particularly concerned with coastal archaeological sites damaged by storms and erosion. Further information is available at their website.