The Boat Beneath the City: Unlocking the Secrets of an Australian Maritime Mystery - Episode 1

A mystery two centuries in the making is unfolding in Sydney. It’s the story of a vessel – and a time and place – that are long gone. Yet its tale resonates through the ages to this day. It mixes science and archaeology, luck and skill. The Australian National Maritime Museum is unravelling its many secrets, to share with visitors from around the world. And it all started with a hole in the ground… In 2018 an archaeological site was uncovered during construction of Barangaroo Station on the new Sydney Metro network. Located on Gadigal Country on the shore of what was once known as Cockle Bay, this dig revealed the almost complete remains of a colonial-built boat, approximately 9 metres long by 3 metres wide, adjacent to a former boatyard. This sensational find electrified archaeologists around Australia. Experts soon realised that this could be the earliest surviving European-built vessel ever recovered, possibly built as early as 1800 and certainly voyaging on the local waters of Cockle Bay and beyond by the 1820s. The vessel’s timbers were painstakingly excavated and documented, before undergoing extensive conservation treatment. Another 5,000 objects from the larger excavation site were also cleaned, partially conserved and catalogued. Together, they are elements of a story that is only beginning to be told. The boat’s journey from the waterlogged silt and mud of Cockle Bay to the Australian National Maritime Museum could not have happened without the skill and dedication of many government and private entities. The site was archaeologically excavated for Sydney Metro by heritage consultancy firms Casey & Lowe and AMBS Ecology & Heritage. Maritime archaeological fieldwork was carried out by Cosmos Archaeology, and International Conservation Services provided conservation advice during removal of the boat and its associated artefacts. Conservation of the hull’s surviving timbers and artefact assemblage was provided by Silentworld Foundation and York Archaeological Trust, under contract to Sydney Metro. For more information on the boat visit: https://www.sea.museum/en/maritime-ar... If you would like to support the conservation and interpretation of this national treasure, please consider donating to the museum’s Foundation.