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	exhibition

MAGIC PENNY    PATAGONIA       PROJECTS for    CHILDREN COMPETITIONS   HERITAGE CARE Patagonia Night Sky Architecture and Monuments El Chalet Pujol Aesthetic Pollution  EXHIBITIONS William Bruce y Perito Moreno "Scotia Sailed Love Willy" "Perito Moreno 100 years on" Germán Sopeña "Tribute Tour" Archaeology "HMS Swift" LOCATIONS Bariloche Esquel Puerto Deseado Puerto Madryn Trevelin Ushuaia Buenos Aires 1 Buenos Aires 2 Edinburgh London		National Anthropology Institue of Argentina and Museo Brozoski Provincial Museum HMS Swift 1770 Shipwreck Exhibition SLOOP SWIFT Two Centuries Beneath the Sea 2002 May 10 - June 4: Centro Cultural Borges Buenos Aires Scientific Director Dr Dolores Elkin dons diving suit Click photo to enlarge (70K) Departing for the site A selection of bottles recovered A selection of porcelain recovered In March 1770, the British warship, His Majesty's Sloop Swift, became stranded, and then sank, in the harbour of Puerto Desire, now known as Puerto Deseado, in Patagonia, Argentina. Few of the contents of the ship could be rescued, and 88 men were stranded on the desolate coast with little food or shelter. The wreck of the Swift with its fourteen cannons soon became covered with mud and silt and lay largely undisturbed in a few fathoms of water for some 200 years. In 1982 some young local divers discovered the wreck and the Brozoski Museum was established in their honour, to house all the artefacts recovered. Since 1997 the excavation has been undertaken by a specialist underwater acheological diving team, based at the National Institute of Anthropology. In this exhibition historical records telling the story of the sinking of the Swift and of the fate of the survivors are presented. Many of the objects recovered are displayed. These include a large variety of pottery, glassware, clothing, furniture and personal objects. Perhaps most importantly, the exhibition illustrates not only how the specialist underwater investigation was carried out, but the importance of contolled archeological studies, in which the acquisition of historical and scientific knowledge, rather that finanacial gain, is paramount. The Magic Penny Trust is pleased to have been able to provide financial support towards the exhibition of the objects recovered, and, through Ciencias y Artes Patagonia, having been able to assist in the acquisition of information, books and historical documents from the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, and other centres in Britain. Other Sponsors include: Swift Armour Argentina, Total Fina Elf, Hidrovía, Dinar Líneas Aéreas, Jan de Nul, Murchison-Terminal Zárate, Prefectura Naval Argentina, Armada Argentina, La Casa del Buceador, Lihué Expeditions, Bullrich-Gaona-Wernicke, British Embassy, Centro Cultural Borges and Ciencias y Artes Patagonia.       map
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