Dredged Up from the Deep

The latest report detailing the diverse finds dredged from the depths of the seabed is now available online.

 

For the last 10 years, the British Marine Aggregate Producers Association has operated a Protocol allowing staff across all of their operations to report and protect archaeology amongst cargoes of aggregate retrieved from the seabed and landed here, and on the Continent.

 

The scheme has been phenomenally successful with over 1100 individual finds reported since its inception in 2004. These are finds that might otherwise have received little or no attention, and our archaeological record would be all the poorer for it. Several sites have also been discovered including a shipwreck recognised during geophysical survey, and a downed WW2 aircraft which is now protected on the seabed by an exclusion zone.

 

The scheme has been so well received by heritage professionals that Protocols for archaeological discoveries are now a recognised mitigatory option for all manner of offshore and inter-tidal construction schemes, including offshore renewables.

 

Wessex Archaeology will continue to work with the aggregate dredging industry over the coming years, to further protect our fragile and finite seabed heritage.

To read the latest report, or to learn more about the Protocol, follow the links on this page.