Margaret Leshikar-Denton

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Margaret E. "Peggy" Leshikar-Denton is an archaeologist specialising in underwater archaeology, and director of the Cayman Islands National Museum. [1]

Contents

Education

Leshikar-Denton has a B.F.A. and an M.A. from the University of Texas at Austin [2] and a Ph.D. from Texas A&M University where her thesis was on the Wreck of the Ten Sail, a 1794 shipwreck off Cayman. [3] Her thesis title was "The 1794 Wreck of the Ten Sail, Cayman Islands, British West Indies: A Historical Study and Archaeological Survey". [4]

Career

Leshikar-Denton was appointed as director of the Cayman Islands National Museum in 2011, having first been appointed to a post in the museum in 1986. She has worked on archaeological sites in countries including Mexico, Spain, Jamaica, Turks and Caicos and Turkey. [3] [2] She is a research associate of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology (INA) at Texas A&M University. [5]

She contributed the chapter "Caribbean Maritime Archaeology" to the Oxford Handbook of Maritime Archaeology.

In 1998 and 1999, she was the UNESCO representative at meetings of the Latin American and Caribbean Technical Commission on Underwater Cultural Heritage, and in 2001, she worked on the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage as a member of the International Council on Monuments and Sites delegation. [3]

She is a past secretary of the International Committee on Underwater Cultural Heritage (ICUCH) of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), and represents the Cayman Islands on the committee. [6] [2]

Recognition

In 2016 she was awarded the Society for Historical Archaeology's award of merit for her work on the protection of underwater cultural heritage. [7] [8]

Personal life

She has lived in the Cayman Islands since 1986, having first visited in 1980 with a team from the Institute of Nautical Archaeology (INA) at Texas A&M University. [3] [5]

Selected publications

Related Research Articles

Maritime archaeology Archaeological study of human interaction with the sea

Maritime archaeology is a discipline within archaeology as a whole that specifically studies human interaction with the sea, lakes and rivers through the study of associated physical remains, be they vessels, shore-side facilities, port-related structures, cargoes, human remains and submerged landscapes. A specialty within maritime archaeology is nautical archaeology, which studies ship construction and use.

Underwater archaeology Archaeological techniques practiced at underwater sites

Underwater archaeology is archaeology practiced underwater. As with all other branches of archaeology, it evolved from its roots in pre-history and in the classical era to include sites from the historical and industrial eras. Its acceptance has been a relatively late development due to the difficulties of accessing and working underwater sites, and because the application of archaeology to underwater sites initially emerged from the skills and tools developed by shipwreck salvagers. As a result, underwater archaeology initially struggled to establish itself as bona fide archaeological research. The situation changed when universities began teaching the subject and when a theoretical and practical base for the sub-discipline was firmly established. Underwater archaeology now has a number of branches including, after it became broadly accepted in the late 1980s, maritime archaeology: the scientifically based study of past human life, behaviours and cultures and their activities in, on, around and (lately) under the sea, estuaries and rivers. This is most often effected using the physical remains found in, around or under salt or fresh water or buried beneath water-logged sediment. In recent years, the study of submerged WWII sites and of submerged aircraft in the form of underwater aviation archaeology have also emerged as bona fide activity.

Nautical Archaeology Society British organisation to further research in nautical archaeology for the public benefit

The Nautical Archaeology Society (NAS) is a charity registered in England and Wales and in Scotland and is a company limited by guarantee.

Middle Caicos Caribbean island in the Turks and Caicos Islands

Middle Caicos is the largest island in the Turks and Caicos Islands. To the west, it is separated from North Caicos by Juniper Hole, and to the east, from East Caicos by Lorimer Creek, both narrow passages that can accommodate only small boats. The island is known for its extensive system of caves and its significant Lucayan Indian archaeological sites. The island is connected to North Caicos via a causeway. Middle Caicos was previously called Grand Caicos, although this name is not used today.

East Caicos is the fourth largest island in the Turks and Caicos Islands. To the west, it is separated from Middle Caicos by Lorimer Creek, a narrow passage that can accommodate only small boats. To the south is South Caicos. East Caicos has no inhabitants.

Mensun Bound British marine archaeologist

Mensun Bound is a British maritime archaeologist born in Stanley, Falkland Islands. He is best known for directing the excavation of the Etruscan 6th-century BC shipwreck off Giglio Island, Italy, the oldest known shipwreck of the Archaic era, and the Hoi An Cargo which revolutionized the understanding of Ming-Vietnamese porcelain from Vietnam's art-historical Golden Age.

Dr Margaret Helen Rule,, FRSA was a British archaeologist. She is most notable for her involvement with the project that excavated and raised the Tudor warship Mary Rose in 1982.

The Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage is a treaty that was adopted on 2 November 2001 by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The convention is intended to protect "all traces of human existence having a cultural, historical or archaeological character" which have been under water for over 100 years. This extends to the protection of shipwrecks, sunken cities, prehistoric art work, treasures that may be looted, sacrificial and burial sites, and old ports that cover the oceans' floors. The preservation of underwater cultural heritage is significant as it allows for the retelling of numerous historical events. As part of its duty to conduct scientific research and provide continuous education on the importance of underwater cultural heritage, UNESCO strives to maintain these sites for the enjoyment of current and future generations. The convention may provide a customary framework to help raise awareness and seek to combat the illegal looting and pirating occurring in waters worldwide. As an international body, member states of the convention agree to work towards the preservation of sunken cultural property within their jurisdiction and the high seas.

Trouvadore was a Spanish slave ship that was shipwrecked in 1841 near East Caicos in the course of a run transporting Africans to be illegally sold to the sugarcane plantations in Cuba. As the United Kingdom had a treaty with Spain prohibiting the international slave trade and had abolished slavery in its colonies in 1833, it freed the 192 slaves who survived the wreck. Individuals and families, a total of 168 Africans, were placed with salt proprietors for apprenticeships in the Turks and Caicos Islands; the remaining 24 Africans were settled in Nassau.

Cayman Islands National Museum

The Cayman Islands National Museum is a museum in the Cayman Islands. It is housed in the former Old Courts Building on Harbor Drive in George Town, Grand Cayman. The museum is dedicated to the preservation, research and display of all aspects of Caymanian heritage.

The Australasian Underwater Cultural Heritage Database (AUCHD) is an online, searchable database containing data on shipwrecks, aircraft that have been submerged underwater or wrecked on the shore, and other artefacts of cultural significance which are or have been underwater. It includes what used to be called the Australian National Shipwreck Database (ANSDB), originally developed by the Australasian Institute of Maritime Archaeology in December 2009, now significantly expanded to include other objects. The database was hosted and maintained by the Department of the Environment and Energy until the environment functions of that department, including AUCHD, were taken over by the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment on 1 February 2020.

Charles T. Meide American underwater archaeologist

Charles T. Meide, Jr., known as Chuck Meide, is an underwater and maritime archaeologist and currently the Director of LAMP, the research arm of the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum located in St. Augustine, Florida. Meide, of Syrian descent on his father's side, was born in Jacksonville, Florida, and raised in the nearby coastal town of Atlantic Beach. He earned BA and MA degrees in Anthropology with a focus in underwater archaeology in 1993 and 2001 from Florida State University, where he studied under George R. Fischer, and undertook Ph.D. studies in Historical Archaeology at the College of William and Mary starting the following year. Meide has participated in a wide array of shipwreck and maritime archaeological projects across the U.S., especially in Florida, and throughout the Caribbean and Bermuda and in Australia and Ireland. From 1995 to 1997 he participated in the search for, discovery, and total excavation of La Salle's shipwreck, La Belle , lost in 1686. From December 1997 to January 1998 he served as Co-Director of the Kingstown Harbour Shipwreck Project, an investigation sponsored by the Institute of Maritime History and Florida State University into the wreck of the French frigate Junon (1778) lost in 1780 in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. In 1999 he directed the Dog Island Shipwreck Survey, a comprehensive maritime survey of the waters around a barrier island off the coast of Franklin County, Florida, and between 2004 and 2006 he directed the Achill Island Maritime Archaeology Project off the coast of County Mayo, Ireland. Since taking over as Director of LAMP in 2006, he has directed the First Coast Maritime Archaeology Project, a state-funded research and educational program focusing on shipwrecks and other maritime archaeological resources in the offshore and inland waters of Northeast Florida. In 2009, during this project, Meide discovered the "Storm Wreck," a ship from the final fleet to evacuate British troops and Loyalist refugees from Charleston at the end of the Revolutionary War, which wrecked trying to enter St. Augustine in late December 1782. He led the archaeological excavation of this shipwreck site each summer from 2010 through 2015, overseeing the recovery of thousands of well-preserved artifacts.

The Molasses Reef Shipwreck is the site of a ship which wrecked in the Turks and Caicos Islands early in the 16th century. It is the oldest wreck of a European ship in the Americas to have been scientifically excavated.

George Farmer (Royal Navy officer) Royal Navy officer (1732–1779)

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David Moore is an American archaeologist and historian. He is best known for his work on the Blackbeard's Queen Anne's Revenge Shipwreck Project. The Queen Anne's Revenge was the flagship of the infamous pirate Blackbeard. He used her for less than a year, but she was an effective tool in his prize-taking.

The Society for Underwater Historical Research (SUHR) was an amateur maritime archaeology organisation operating in South Australia (SA). It was formed in 1974 by recreational scuba divers and other persons to pursue an interest in maritime archaeology and maritime history. The SUHR was renamed as the South Australian Archaeology Society in March 2012 as part of a plan to expand its activities beyond maritime archaeology to include other archaeological disciplines.

Turks and Caicos National Museum

The Turks and Caicos National Museum is the national museum of the Turks and Caicos Islands. It is located in Guinep House on Front Street to the north of Cockburn Town on Grand Turk Island, which is also the capital of the archipelago. Established in the 1980s and opened in 1991, the museum is publicly funded as a nonprofit trust. It exhibits pre-historic Lucayan culture and records the history of the islands of the colonial era and the slave trade, all related to the sea. An arboretum is adjacent to the museum.

María del Pilar Luna Erreguerena was a Mexican underwater archaeologist, pioneer in the field of archaeology, who founded the Division of Underwater Archaeology of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH). She was awarded her undergraduate degree by the National School of Anthropology and History and the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), from which she then obtained her master's degree in Anthropological Sciences.

HMS Swift (1763) Sloop of the Royal Navy

HMS Swift was built in 1762 at the shipyard of John Greave in Limehouse, on the banks of the River Thames, and launched in 1763. It was a sloop-of-war 28 metres (92 ft) in length and was armed with 14 6 pounders (2.7 kg) guns and 12 pedreros of 12 pound. It sank along the coast of Puerto Deseado, Patagonia in 1770.

INAPL Argentine anthropological and cultural institute

The National Institute of Anthropology and Latin American Thought is an Argentine government agency dedicated to preserving national cultural and archeological heritage. It is a part of Argentina's ministry of culture.

References

  1. "Museum Staff". cimuseum. Cayman Islands National Museum. Retrieved 1 May 2022. Dr. Peggy Leshikar-Denton
  2. 1 2 3 "Margaret E. Leshikar-Denton (Peggy)". Members. ICOMOS International Committee on the Underwater Cultural Heritage. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Winker, Carol (14 October 2011). "New director has a history with Cayman's National Museum". Cayman Compass. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  4. Leshikar-Denton, Margaret E. (December 1993). "The 1794 Wreck of the Ten Sail, Cayman Islands, British West Indies : a historical study and archaeological survey". Texas A&M University Libraries. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  5. 1 2 "Research Associates". Institute of Nautical Archaeology. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  6. "Seasoned archaeologist takes museum top job". Cayman News. 13 October 2011. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  7. "Awards and Prizes". Society for Historical Archaeology. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  8. "SHA Award of Merit". Advisory Council on Underwater Archaeology. 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  9. Harris, Lynn B. (June 2021). "Margaret E. Leshikar-Denton. 2020. Cayman's 1794: Wreck of the Ten Sail: peace, war, and peril in the Caribbean". Antiquity. 95 (381): 839–841. doi:10.15184/aqy.2021.52.
  10. Guibert, Jean-Sebastien (2 January 2021). "Cayman's 1794 Wrecks of the 'Ten Sail'. Peace, War and Peril in the Caribbean: by Margaret E. Leshikar-Denton". International Journal of Nautical Archaeology. 50 (1): 228–230. doi:10.1080/10572414.2021.1942723.
  11. Castro, Filipe (1 July 2010). "Underwater and Maritime Archaeology in Latin America and the Caribbean. Margaret Leshikar-Denton , Pilar Luna Erreguerena". Journal of Anthropological Research. 66 (2): 287–289. doi:10.1086/jar.66.2.27820904. ISSN   0091-7710.