Research Areas

The Western Australian Museum is one of the State's premier centres of excellence in the areas of natural sciences, anthropology, archaeology and history.

Museum scientists and curators work in the fields of aquatic zoology, archaeology and anthropology, conservation, earth and planetary sciences, history, maritime archaeology, maritime history and terrestrial zoology.

Our staff have specialist, often internationally regarded expertise in their areas and work extensively with other museums and universities both nationally and overseas.

Museum staff carry out extensive research and field work and have produced some of the State's most exciting scientific finds including: the Gogo fish; ancient megafauna such as Thylacoleo carnifex; new species of frogs, reptiles and spiders; and an abundance of new marine species along the vast WA coastline.

Maritime Archaeology

The Maritime Archaeology department, based in the Western Australian Museum - Shipwreck Galleries, primarily researches shipwreck archaeology from the Western Australian coast. Its staff members are involved in developing artefact management and cataloguing strategies, outreach and wreck–access programs, site–inspection techniques, and studies of diverse maritime sites, such as iron ship archaeology and underwater aviation archaeology.

The collection and conservation of archaeological material recovered from historic shipwrecks found along the Western Australian coast led to the establishment of the Western Australian Museum - Shipwreck Galleries, one of the few museums in the world with a specific focus on the preservation and display of maritime archaeological material.

Reconstructing the Batavia
Reconstructing the Batavia
Photo by Patrick Baker
Image copyright of WA Museum

The collection comprises material dating from the early seventeenth century to the late nineteenth century. It provides tangible evidence of the early presence of English, Portuguese, Dutch and American seafarers on the west coast of Australia.

The best-known shipwrecks of this early presence are "Trial" (1622), "Batavia" (1629), "Vergulde Draak" (1656), "Zuiddorp" (1712), "Zeewijk" (1727), "Rapid" (1811), and "Correio da Azia" (1816). Furthermore, it has an important research collection relating to the shipping activity associated with British colonisation of Western Australia and to the development of the State, such as the ex slave-ship "James Matthews" wrecked in 1841, the iron barque "Sepia" in 1898, and the SS "Xantho" in 1872.

Maritime Archaeology - websites

Maritime Archaeology have developed a range of online databases to enable searches of Western Australian Shipwrecks, our Numismatics collections, shipwreck artefacts and bibliography. The Maritime Archaeology department also worked with the Museum's web team to develop the award winning HMAS Sydney (II) memorial site and educational portal, and has also developed a large range of subsites drawing on their extensive fieldwork and research.

Maritime Archaeology Databases

HMAS Sydney (II)

This subsite explores the story behind WA's most famous shipwreck - the Batavia

The story of the extraordinary Broadhurst Family and their legacy in WA history

Dedicated to the exploration and research of World War II aviation crash sites

This subsite explores the wrecks of Dirk Hartog Island

Journeys of Enlightenment - this website is about the Frenck explorers of the 18th and 19th century who ventured into the unknown

Maritime Archaeology Reports

Research and fieldword opn the James Matthews, Dampier, de Freycient and Broome's WWII wrecks

Website about the European voyages that helped unravel the mysteries of the South Land

Significant shipwreck sites dividied by region in Western Australia

collections

  1. Maritime Shipwrecks

    Maritime Archaeology

    This pages contains historic information and photos from a selection of significant shipwrecks wrecked off the Western Australian coast, including: Trial (1622), Batavia (1629...

Department Web Pages

  1. ANCODS working documents

    Maritime Archaeology

    This series comprises catalogues of Dutch wreck material prepared as working documents for the Australian Netherlands Committee on Old Dutch Shipwrecks (ANCODS) in accordance with the...

  2. Batavia

    Maritime Archaeology

    As part of the Australian Government's Gifts to the Nation, the Western Australian Museum received a grant to investigate land sites associated with the wreck of the Batavia....

  3. Broken Wings

    Maritime Archaeology

    Broken Wings is dedicated to the exploration, discovery, documentation, conservation and presentation of recently discovered WWII heritage aircraft crash sites worldwide. ...

  4. Bunbury Whalers Dig

    Maritime Archaeology

    Two whaling ships, the Samuel Wright and the North America lie 10,000 nautical miles from home, and located directly beneath a car park in south-western Australian city of...

  5. Cape Inscription

    Maritime Archaeology

    Dirk Hartog Island is of the greatest historical importance, being the site of the earliest recorded European landfall on the Western Australian coast.

    This site explores the histories of...

  6. Legislation - Commonwealth Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976

    Maritime Archaeology

    Australia's historic shipwrecks and their associated relics are protected by the Commonwealth Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976. This Act protects all shipwrecks older than 75 years in Australian...

  7. Maritime Archaeology - A compendium of projects, programmes and publications 1971–2003

    Maritime Archaeology

    This page contains a link to a book which is a compendium of the work of the Maritime Archaeology department carried
    out over the period since the Department’s formation in the 1970s up to...

  8. Maritime Archaeology - curators and contacts

    Maritime Archaeology

    Jeremy Green
    Head of Maritime Archaeology
    Phone: (08) 9431 8440
    Fax: (08) 9431 8489

    Myra Stanbury
    Curator
    Phone: (08) 9431 8437
    Fax: (08) 9431 8489

    ...

  9. Maritime Archaeology - legal requirements

    Maritime Archaeology

    Shipwreck Coins and Relics-Your Legal Obligations

    The Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976 protects shipwrecks and their associated relics in Commonwealth waters. It is illegal to...

  10. Maritime Archaeology - Masters Program

    Maritime Archaeology

    GRADUATE CERTIFICATE / GRADUATE DIPLOMA / MASTER APPLIED MARITIME ARCHAEOLOGY
    (UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA AND WESTERN AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM)

    These...

  11. Maritime Archaeology - peer-reviewed publications

    Maritime Archaeology

    2008-2009

    Anderson, R. (2008). Discovering New Ground – AIMA’s Mapping the Coast database project. Bulletin of the Australasian Institute for Maritime Archaeology 32: 58–...

  12. Maritime Archaeology Podcasts

    Maritime Archaeology

    Shipwrecks and Chemistry

    01/08/2011 - Gillian O’Shaughnessy talks to Dr Ian McLeod.

    Download interview...

  13. Maritime Archaeology Reports: 001 - 100

    Maritime Archaeology

    The following list contains a comprehensive selection of reports produced by the Maritime Archaeology Department between 1974 - 2010. This particular page refers to documents 1 - 100, which where...

  14. Maritime Archaeology Reports: 101 - 200

    Maritime Archaeology

    The following list contains a comprehensive selection of reports produced by the Maritime Archaeology Department between 1974 - 2010. This particular page refers to documents 101 - 200, which...

  15. Maritime Archaeology Reports: 200 - 274

    Maritime Archaeology

    The following list contains a comprehensive selection of reports produced by the Maritime Archaeology Department between 1974 - 2010. This particular page refers to documents 201 - 274, which...

  16. Maritime Archaeology Research Subsites

    Maritime Archaeology

    The following research subsites have been prepared to provide insight into the research the WA Musuem has performed at some significant sites around the Western Australian coastline.

    ...

  17. Shipwreck Trail pamphlets

    Maritime Archaeology

    This page contains a series of Shipwreck Trail pamphlets in pdf format.

  18. The Broadhurst Family

    Maritime Archaeology

    The Broadhurst Family website was developed to showcase the history of this extraordinary family and their impact in Western Australia's...

  19. Treasures from the Deep

    Maritime Archaeology

    These research based subsites explores four very famous and significant stories from Western Australian history:

    • ...

  20. Wreck Finder

    Maritime Archaeology

    The "Wreck Finder" was created to provide easy access to Western Australian shipwreck information and to...

maritime archaeology Highlights

  • Xantho

    SS Xantho was an iron-hulled paddle steamer built in 1848 for use in Scottish waters. In 1871 it was refit with screw propulsion and was then purchased by Charles Broadhurst for us a transport in the north-west Australian pearling...

    read more

    Exploring the SS Xantho wreck site Image copyright of WA Museum Photo by Patrick Baker
    Exploring the SS Xantho wreck site
    Photo by Patrick Baker
    Image copyright of WA Museum

  • James Matthews

    The James Matthews wreck was located in 1973 on the north side of Woodman Point in Cockburn Sound, by members of the Underwater Explorers Club (UEC) who were conducting an underwater line search as part of their wreck research program....

    read more

    Exploring the James Matthews wreck site Image copyright of WA Museum Photo by Patrick Baker
    Exploring the James Matthews wreck site
    Photo by Patrick Baker
    Image copyright of WA Museum

  • Vergulde Draak

    On 4 October 1655, Vergulde Draeck of the Amsterdam Chamber of the Dutch United East India Company (VOC) set sail from Texel, on what was to be its second and final voyage to Batavia (modern Jakarta) in the East Indies.

    The ...

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    Artefacts recovered from the Vergulde Draak Image copyright of WA Museum Photo from WA Museum
    Artefacts recovered from the Vergulde Draak
    Photo from WA Museum
    Image copyright of WA Museum

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