Connections Through Time: Examining community interaction with colonial maritime heritage in Encounter Bay, South Australia

Author: Ashley Ellison

Ellison, Ashley, 2024 Connections Through Time: Examining community interaction with colonial maritime heritage in Encounter Bay, South Australia, Flinders University, College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences

Terms of Use: This electronic version is (or will be) made publicly available by Flinders University in accordance with its open access policy for student theses. Copyright in this thesis remains with the author. You may use this material for uses permitted under the Copyright Act 1968. If you are the owner of any included third party copyright material and/or you believe that any material has been made available without permission of the copyright owner please contact copyright@flinders.edu.au with the details.

Abstract

This thesis utilises an interdisciplinary approach to examine the relationship between the community of Encounter Bay, South Australia and its associated colonial maritime cultural heritage. This research integrates the cognitive study concepts of social memory and sense of place into the maritime cognitive landscape framework as part of the broader maritime cultural landscape. As these cognitive concepts are often underutilised when studying maritime-related contexts, this thesis offers a unique perspective on the connection between maritime cultural heritage, such as shipwrecks, and local community identity. Collection and interpretation of oral history interviews and review of archival sources provide an understanding of how residents have interacted with nearshore shipwreck sites throughout Encounter Bay’s history. These findings are evaluated through the lenses of sense of place and social memory to reach a conclusion regarding what intangible factors motivate these interactions.

Keywords: maritime archaeology, archaeology, maritime cultural landscape, maritime cognitive landscape, Encounter Bay

Subject: Archaeology thesis

Thesis type: Masters
Completed: 2024
School: College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
Supervisor: Dr Wendy van Duivenvoorde