After a three-year hiatus, the Institute of Nautical Archaeology (INA), in collaboration with the Nautical Archaeology Program in the Department of Anthropology in the College of Arts and Sciences at Texas A&M University, will open its doors to the Bryan-College Station community this Saturday (April 15) for Shipwreck Weekend.
The free activities will run from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Anthropology Building in celebration of this year’s theme, "Embodying Seamanship: Digital and Physical Reconstructions of the Seafaring Past.”
“Essentially, we want to show how nautical archaeologists take what they have discovered and work backwards to reconstruct what these amazing ships originally looked like,” said Ethan Mock, a Ph.D. student of nautical archaeology and spokesperson for the event. “This ranges from making digital 3D models of shipwrecks, to drawing up ship designs based on their remains, to even constructing physical models using the information we have collected.”
The day will begin at 10:30 a.m. with a public lecture by 3D-modeling expert Pat Tanner from the University College Cork in the United Kingdom, to be held in Room 237 of the Anthropology Building. From noon to 4 p.m., guests are invited to participate in a building-wide open house, during which they will have the opportunity to tour the research labs, take part in shipwreck discoveries, try on scuba gear, learn sea shanties and view free presentations throughout the day.
“We hope people find Shipwreck Weekend a fun and educational experience,” Mock said. “Everyone deserves to better understand the vast history of their own past, and essentially every society in human history has had some intimate connection with water travel.
“We believe nautical archaeology holds something of interest for everyone. Ultimately, we hope our guests can walk away with a sense of pride in their own personal history as well as in the work their Texas A&M community is doing to uncover it.”
For more information on the event, which is celebrating its 33rd year, contact the Department of Anthropology at (979) 845-5242.