(Underwater archeology team/Parks Canada) Marc-André Bernier, manager of Parks Canada's underwater archeology team, meets with Inuit elders. "What are the events we don't know about and what order did things unfold in? Why are the two ships 75 kilometres apart? How did they sink?" Harris said, rhyming off some of the questions that have been at the core of the Franklin mystery. Harris said they are trying to tell the story of the expedition on many different levels, from the overarching historical narrative right down to the experiences of individual crew members and who was in a particular cabin at a particular time. What lies beneath: State-of-the-art technolgy used in Franklin Expedition work HMS Terror's 'incredible' condition may offer new clues to Franklin Expedition mystery "We're not just interested in telling the stories of the officers who had an elevated social status, but of the more anonymous people that made up the rest of the ship's company." "The sailors themselves had to fit all of their earthly possessions into one half of a seaman's chest that would double as a bench at the mess table. 'That's where archeology is in the best position to tell the story of people who don't have as much of a presence in the historical record," said Harris. In the case of Hoar, who wasn't an officer on the ship, the discovery of his name and its association with an artifact offers the opportunity to tell the tale of someone of a more humble origin.Ī Parks Canada underwater archeologist works about eight metres below the surface of the water. "We talked about trying to identify DNA samples, but to actually have a fingerprint from one of the crew, that's incredible, something you just don't come across every day." He also pointed to the sealing wax that has the thumbprint or fingerprint of the sailor who used it to seal a letter or document. "Whenever in archeology we come across artifacts that can really be linked to individuals, that's highly personalized, that's quite evocative," said Harris. Such personal discoveries hold a particular significance for the archeologists. Edmund Hoar, from Portsea, Hampshire, was 23 when the expedition set sail in 1845. In the Erebus pantry, archeologists found a lead stamp with a name on it - that of "Ed. Hoar' was found on Erebus during Parks Canada's most recent research season at the site of the wreck in Nunavut. Some of the artifacts recovered from the wreck lying in the shallow waters of Wilmot and Crampton Bay were unveiled Thursday at Parks Canada's conservation laboratories in Ottawa.Ī lead stamp marked 'Ed. "Through the work we did on Terror and being able to look inside the cabins, and now getting into the artifacts of individuals inside Erebus, this is the beginning - and it's only the beginning - of really getting into the story in depth," Marc-André Bernier, manager of Parks Canada's underwater archeology team, said in an interview. Underwater archeologists from Parks Canada found these highly personal items as they recovered more than 350 artifacts during their most recent - and they say most successful - season yet at the HMS Erebus wreck site off the coast of Nunavut.Īnd they are hoping such tantalizing links to individual sailors from the mid-19th century British expedition led by John Franklin will offer clues and help them move closer to understanding what happened on the ill-fated polar mission.Īlong with work done at the site of the other Franklin Expedition vessel - HMS Terror - the underwater excavation on Erebus late last summer was in many ways the result of several years of archeological preparation after the wrecks were discovered in 20. Human hairs caught in the bristles of a hairbrush.
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