Hamilton and Scourge: Archaeological Exploration of Two War of 1812 Shipwrecks

Three rounds of archaeological fieldwork were completed at the wrecks of the Hamilton and Scourge in 2007, 2008 and 2009. The principal objective of the fieldwork was to assess the condition of these well-preserved War of 1812-1814 era wrecks that capsized in western Lake Ontario on August 8, 1813. The Hamilton & Scourge National Historic Site of Canada is owned and managed by the City of Hamilton, and Parks Canada's Underwater Archaeology Service served as the archaeological lead during the condition survey. Fieldwork was spurred by the advent of unsanctioned technical diving visitation to the sites in 2000-2001 that revealed the presence of invasive mussels; the latter proved to be quagga mussels, a close relative of the better-known zebra mussel. Other objectives included marine remote sensing of the site and its debris field, three-dimensional archaeological recording of the individual wrecks, exploration of the hull interiors, site environment studies and a public presentation, the latter to
include a television documentary.

This illustrated talk will briefly describe the wrecks and their history, outline carefully planned preparatory studies in the lead-up to the survey, and report on the archaeological results of the multifaceted survey of two fascinating shipwrecks.

Jonathan Moore, Senior Underwater Archaeologist with Parks Canada, did his undergraduate studies at Queens University, where he began his involvement in underwater archaeology. He completed a Master's degree in Maritime Studies at the University of St. Andrews in 1992. He began working with Parks Canada's Underwater Archaeology Service in 1994 and has worked on over 50 projects across Canada. From 2007 to 2009, he directed the archaeological survey of the United States Navy shipwrecks Hamiltonand Scourge wrecked in 1813 in Lake Ontario.

This is a joint presentation of the Archaeological Institute of America and the Ontario Archaeological Society, with the cooperation of Parks Canada and the Canadian War Museum.