HMS Swift (1770) - Research in Progress

ELKIN, DOLORES

Williamsburg, Virginia (USA)

Congreso; 40th Annual Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology; 2007

Society for Historical Archaeology

HMS Swift was a British sloop of war which sank off Patagonia (currently Southern Argentina) in 1770. Since 1998 the Underwater Archaeology Program of the National Institute of Anthropology has been conducting archaeological research at the wrecksite, addressing topics such as the relationship between material culture and social status, technology, ship construction, feeding and culinary habits, and site formation processes. In 2006 an extensive field season allowed the completion of the first stage of the excavation plan for this site. This contribution presents an overview of the ongoing research at the HMS Swift site, including some new research avenues -such as studies on human remains- which have been generated by the latest archaeological finds.