1. Nic Grosjean
ANTH 410
Fantasy Proposal
Scope and Significance:
The history of California is as varied as its numerous landscapes. Maritime travel
and commerce have historically and contemporarily been crucial to the growth and
development of California. As with all business ventures, some degree of success is
expected to be tempered with an amount of failure. In the case of maritime commerce,
one such disaster is the entire loss of a ship. However, such disasters also can later
present opportunities. Shipwrecks are key historical resources available to study and
learn about past maritime endeavors and history. Archaeological survey and excavation
of a shipwreck is significant contemporarily because it may reveal many different details
about the ship.
Archaeological investigations may answer many possible questions about a
shipwreck, including: the ship’s port of origin and its destination, the ship’s purpose and
its cargo, and may answer questions regarding the reason or reasons for the ship’s
sinking. Underwater archaeology of shipwrecks off the coast of California has already
presented opportunities to access new information and histories about California and its
historical maritime activities. This is a request to receive a research grant in proposal to
conduct a thorough archaeological survey and excavation of an undiscovered shipwreck
located off of the Mendocino Coast of California. This project proposes using survey,
mapping, photo and sonar documentation, excavation and analysis to provide the story
of an unknown ship, and to provide a more-detailed history of the maritime activity on
the Mendocino coast of Northern California.

2. Nic Grosjean
ANTH 410
Background:
The location of the shipwreck was discovered by a local urchin diver. The identity
of the shipwreck that this proposal seeks to study is not known as no previous formal
study has been conducted. Before starting this archaeological investigation, I have
performed initial dives on the shipwreck with the urchin diver in order to determine the
ship’s exact location. Interestingly, these dives have also revealed that the ship carried
what appear to be at least one cannon and a large grindstone. I theorize the grindstone
may have been ballast for the ship or just may have been in transit. The cannon in
particular will be a critical artifact in the process of identifying and dating the vessel, as
cannons are most often created with unique identifying markers. During the first dives
the amount of life growing on the cannon eliminated chances of reading any identifying
markers until it can be properly raised, cleaned and analyzed.
The ship could possibly belong to a few different cultural groups or origins. The
possibilities range from Spanish, to American, to Russian. All of these cultures had
ships on the coast of California at one time. The cannon may well prove very useful in
this determination as different styles, sizes, and markers are indicative of different
cultural origin. Preliminary research has shown that the ship sank offshore of a few
different historic wood mill sites, however, very few of these mill sites were in operation
when cannons were common on ships and therefore it is not yet known if this is merely
a measure of proximity or a connection between shipwreck and the early logging
industry. Other known discoveries of shipwrecks offshore of the Mendocino Coast of
California include the shipwreck the Frolic, which was studied by Thomas N. Layton. As
Layton identifies, the Frolic was a New England-built clipper ship that sank in 1850 off

3. Nic Grosjean
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the coast of Casper, California (Layton 1997). Layton proved the ship sank while en-
route from China to San Francisco and had ties to the opium trade.
Methods:
The goals of the project are to provide information about the shipwreck and the
role it played in the history of Northern California. The project is designed to be
completed in four phases. The first phase will begin with receiving proper and
necessary permits conduct an underwater archaeological investigation and securing
funding. Efforts of the first phase will also be focused on conducting background
research of other shipwrecks in the area as well as research about what existed nearby
onshore. Phase two will begin with a detailed survey of the shipwreck. During the
survey, detailed maps of the shipwreck will be created using two mapping techniques.
The first mapping technique will consist of traditional tape-and-compass mapping and
the second will high-resolution sonar mapping, logged digitally.
The entire site will be sectioned of into a large grid pattern, so as to reference the
location of all found artifacts and features. The second phase will continue with the
documenting the site with photography and sketches and video. Identification of artifacts
or areas of interest will also take place during the second phase, such as the cannon
and the large grindstone, and any pieces of wood that can be found. Wood found on-
site could provide dendrochronology dates that could be used to compare with any
dates received from the cannon or any other found artifacts. Artifacts of interest found
during the second phase will receive further investigation and excavation during the
third phase. I expect to find metals, pottery, glass items, possibly coins, food or drink

4. Nic Grosjean
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barrels The third phase will entail the excavation and collection of artifacts. The
excavation will be conducted in through careful collection, though sifting material
manually or by dredge. Artifacts that are collected for later analysis will be stabilized
once on the surface in order to ensure their preservation. Artifacts will be collected
during phase three in preparation for the final fourth phase. The fourth phase will
conducted in the lab and consist of cleaning and identifying collected artifacts, analyzing
those artifacts, and publishing the results.
Works Cited
Thomas N. Layton. The Voyage of the Frolic: New England Merchants and the Opium
Trade. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1997.