Keith Muckelroy

Keith Muckelroy (1951 - 1980) was a pioneer of maritime archaeology. In 1976 he published a paper [Muckleroy, K., 1976. The integration of historical and archaeological data concerning an historic wreck site: The 'Kennemerland'. World Archaeology 7.3 pp 280-289. ] in which he proposed a theory for the formation of shipwreck sites. He later expanded this theory in a book [Muckleroy, K., 1978. Maritime Archaeology. Cambridge University Press ISSBN 0521220793] . Muckelroy's theory became the classic model for interpretation of wreck sites and even today, either his original paper or his later book are referenced by almost every research paper on the archaeology of shipwrecks. He also edited an atlas of underwater archaeological sites [Muckleroy, K. 1980, Archaeology under water: an atlas of the world's submerged sites. McGraw-Hill. ISSBN 0070439516] . His research covered the Kennermerland [Muckelroy, Keith, 1977: A Possible Seventeenth-Century Dutch Backstaff. The Mariner's Mirror Vol. 63, London, pp 213-214, ill. A find from the Dutch East-Indaman Kennmerland which was at the Shetland Ilands in 1664.] , Bronze age cargoes and trade [Muckelroy, Keith. 1981. Middle Bronze Age trade between Britain and Europe: a maritime perspective. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society. Vol 47. pp275-297] [Muckelroy, Keith. 1980. Two bronze age cargoes in British waters. Antiquity Vol 54 number 211 pp100-109] and terrestrial archaeology [Muckelroy, K 1976. Enclosed ambulatories in Romano-Celtic temples in Britain Britannia vol 7, pp173-91.] . He believed that archaeological research on more recent wrecks, such as even early iron vessels and steamships, was a waste of time because more information on them could be gleaned from material in archives and in museums than from artifacts recovered from the sea-bed [http://www.museum.wa.gov.au/maritime/exhibtions/north.asp] . This view is challenged by other maritime archaeologists.

His career was cut tragically short on 8 September 1980 when he drowned in a diving accident in Loch Tay.

The Keith Muckelroy Award

The Keith Muckelroy award is awarded biennially for the best published work in the preceding two years covering British maritime, nautical or underwater archaeology. Entries are eligible if they address work in Britain, Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey or British territorial waters. The award is given for work that best reflects the pioneering ideas and scholarly standards of Keith Muckelroy.

The award became part of the British Archaeological Awards [http://www.britarch.ac.uk/awards/baa2004.html] in 2004 and is sponsored by the Keith Muckelroy Trust, The Maritime Affairs Group of the IFA, the Nautical Archaeology Society and the Maritime Committee of the Association of Local Government Archaeological Officers. Prior to 2004, the award had been given 5 times during the 1980s.

Obituaries

* INA Quarterly, Vol 7.2/3 p3
* IJNA Vol 9.4 p274 (Sean McGrail)
* Mariner's Mirror vol 66.4 p292 (Joan du Plat Taylor)
* The Times, Sept 13 1980 (Glyn Daniel)

References

* [http://www.museum.wa.gov.au/maritime/exhibtions/north.asp Xantho project, Museum of Western Australia]
* [http://www.britarch.ac.uk/awards/baa2004.html British Archaeological Awards 2004]
* [http://antiquity.ac.uk/ant/054/Ant0540100.htm Antiquity Vol 54 number 211 1980] Muckelroy, K., Two Bronze Age cargoes in British waters

Notes