FjordExplorers

Globaly joining forces to

Research, Explore, Document & Protect

submerged cultural resources.

Particular focus is given to local maritime history and resources.

“It is in our nature to explore, to reach out into the unknown. The only true failure would be not to explore at all.”

We want to be part of the Solution

what can we do Together?

Explore

Explore means to us to go out and actively search for evidence of man made objects in submerged sites and sometimes on land. Depths can range from 1 to 100+ meters. In Sisu exploring, meaning "do not disturb", is our policy and practiced as much as possible.

Research

Research involves seeking out and extracting evidence from original archival records. This type of research is more complex and time-consuming than library and internet research, presenting challenges in identifying, locating and interpreting relevant documents.

Document

Document all activities we do is important, not just to ourself but also for sharing purposes. We write reports, make schetches, and take pictures and we do use video for visual documentation as much as possible.

Protect

We need to protect all cultural artifacts from being removed from sites and wrecks. Sites and wrecks are a non-renewable resource; that is, once they are destroyed, the information they contained is lost forever.

Gains from Community-driven research?

Are there anything to learn from recent public nautical research and Communit-driven Research?

Protect our Heritage

We Create Unique Campaigns To support marine archeology

We conduct campaigns and also training for pre qualified people that are passionat about Protecting our common heritage

Wiggo Eriksen

Founder

Firstname Lastname

Join us in this rewarding work

our work inspires Others

The Faces Behind Our work

we support UNESCO

what UNESCO are saying

Want To know more?

drop us a line and keep in touch

Get In Touch

Fill in the form below and our team will be happy to assist you

Explore

Explore means to us to go out and actively search for evidence of man made objects in submerged sites and sometimes on land. Depths can range from 1 to 100+ meters. In Sisu exploring, meaning “do not disturb”, is our policy and practiced as much as possible.

The land archaeologist is, in most instances, helped by the topography of the ground; there are generally good reasons for believing a certain area to be of archaeological interest and the irregularities of the hill give him leads as to where should dig. The underwater
archaeologist may have no such indications on which to base his search, especially if he is interested in finding a well-preserved ancient wreck. Shallow wrecks can often be found near dangerous rocks but such wrecks are liable to be broken up by succeeding storms with the result that they have little or no interest to the marine archaeologist. There are three ways in which ancient wrecks may be discovered.

Firstly amateur or professional divers find sunken ships in the course of other diving activities. For instance in the eastern
Mediterranean hundreds of sponge divers have been active during many years and have covered large underwater areas visually. This has resulted in the accurate positioning of many wrecks. The divers involved have in most instances not precisely pin-pointed the wreck position and although the general area is known they have to be refound.

Secondly, the posible existence of wrecks have been suggested by trawler operators either working for fish or sponges. Amphora
and in exceptional instances bronzes have been found in their nets. These will give approximate positions and again precise location must bc accomplished by other methods.

Third approach to finding ancient sunken ships is by searching large areas in the blind hope that something of interest will be found. Unfortunately the sea is very large! Even when using methods having a wide sweep, such as sonar, the time and effort involved make this approach almost impossible except in confined areas where there are reasons to believe that wrecks would have occurred.

Besides the problem of finding wrecks in the open sea, survey methods can be invaluable to the excavator before he starts to excavate a wreck site. Although the presence of a wreck may be obvious from visual observation, its extent under sand or mud may not be obvious; moreover, the presence of ferrous or non-fcrrous metals may give an indication of how the ship lies and how it should be excavated. It is worth emphasizing the fact that archaeological excavation underwater is an order of magnitude more time consuming and almost two orders of magnitude more expensive than excavation of a similar area on land; any short-cuts brought about by use of instruments are well worth while.

Remote operated vehicle mini ROV on deck of offshore vessel

Document

Research involves seeking out and extracting evidence from original archival records. This type of research is more complex and time-consuming than library and internet research, presenting challenges in identifying, locating and interpreting relevant documents.

Archival research is research that involves searching for and extracting information and evidence from original archives. Archives are historical – non-current – documents, records and other sources relating to the activities and claims of individuals, entities or both. They exist both to preserve historic material of value and to make it available for future use.

Archival research provides information of interest to research professionals across a wide range of fields, including journalists and other media professionals, researchers, historians, genealogists, knowledge managers, legal professionals and more. Given the vast sea of archived material available, archival research is typically more complex and time-consuming than your average online search, but it often yields more reliable results.

Depending on the type of archive you’re using, the research process varies. A number of archive types exist, including business, academic, government and non-profit archives.

Archived information likewise runs the gamut with a wide range of materials and formats, such as newspapers and other periodicals, both published and unpublished manuscripts, letters, photographs, videos, charts, graphs, audio recordings, artworks, books, maps, diaries, artefacts, social media histories, and more.

Whichever type of archive you’re using, and no matter what you’re looking for, you ultimately want a powerful resource that will find and cull the data you need (and only what you need), from the names of people and organisations, dates, places and events to in-depth particulars. This resource should draw on the likes of relevant primary news sources, secondary sources that provide solid background information, reference works, legitimate legal and business publications, transcripts, wire services and more.

 

 

Young caucasian man indoor library reading book

Document

Document all activities we do is important, not just to ourself but also for sharing purposes. We write reports, make schetches, and take pictures and we do use video for visual documentation as much as possible.

When documenting a underwater site or surface deposit “in situ” refers to recording, mapping, photographing human made objects in the position they are discovered. The label in situ indicates only that the object has not been “newly” moved.

Making drawings, measurements, photo and video is a normal part of this recording.

documenting

Protect

We need to protect all cultural artifacts from being removed from sites and wrecks. Sites and wrecks are a non-renewable resource; that is, once they are destroyed, the information they contained is lost forever.

UNESCO writes:

With the increase of interest in underwater cultural heritage over the past decades, it is necessary to raise worldwide awareness of the value of sunken cultural heritage, and to engage decision makers in taking steps to protect these cultural treasures.

The threats to underwater cultural heritage are multiple. The coasts, oceans and seabed are increasingly exploited and used for economic activities. Infrastructural projects in coastal areas or littoral zones can have a significant impact on underwater archaeological heritage. Many activities and construction works have an impact on the environment by generating pollution, causing erosion or modifying currents, and many of them can affect submerged archaeological sites, such as sunken cities or ancient wrecks.

To mitigate these undesirable industrial impacts, the 2001 Convention states in Article 5 that “Each State Party shall use the best practicable means at its disposal to prevent or mitigate any adverse effects that might arise from activities under its jurisdiction incidentally affecting underwater cultural heritage”.

Archeology Scientists Reconstruct Broken Pottery