A Spanish man-o-war in New Zealand? The 1864 wreck of Grafton and its lessons for pre-Cook shipwreck claims
This paper considers the 1864 wreck of Grafton in the Auckland Islands, and its implications for wreck analysis and pre-Cook exploration claims. The captain of Grafton, Thomas Musgrave, stated that the schooner was built from the wreck of a Spanish man-o-war, and archaeological analysis of the wreck...
Published in: | International Journal of Nautical Archaeology |
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Main Authors: | , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | unknown |
Published: |
ePublications@SCU
2015
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://epubs.scu.edu.au/bus_tourism_pubs/412 https://doi.org/10.1111/1095-9270.12108 |
Summary: | This paper considers the 1864 wreck of Grafton in the Auckland Islands, and its implications for wreck analysis and pre-Cook exploration claims. The captain of Grafton, Thomas Musgrave, stated that the schooner was built from the wreck of a Spanish man-o-war, and archaeological analysis of the wreck found that the timbers are a tropical South American species, and had possibly been reused. The implications of this are clear; it is possible that timbers that originated in pre-Cook (1769) ships lie in New Zealand, but without a full understanding of the historical and archaeological context of any such timbers, including their reuse in later ships, it is not possible to claim proof of pre-Cook European exploration of New Zealand. |
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