Rhode Island marine Archaeology Project (RIMAP)
Contact: We check our e-mail only intermittently, so the best way to contact us is to write Box 1492, Newport, RI 02840, or to call (401) 253-2094
Website: http://www.rimap.org/
Mission:
RIMAP is a not-for-profit volunteer organization dedicated to the study of Rhode Island’s maritime history and the archaeological study of cultural resources related to that history. Rhode Island is called “the Ocean State” because all of our communities contributed to that title, not only by local ships and sailors, but by raw materials, labor, and investment in our marine trades. RIMAP has an interest in all periods of the state’s maritime history (on land as well as under water), including Native American watercraft and submerged terrestrial sites, Colonial and Revolutionary War sites, local slaving, steamship, and naval histories, the Golden Age of yachting and pleasure craft, and modern maritime technology and economic systems. Our sister organization, the Foundation for the Preservation of Captain Cook’s Ships (Cook’s Fndn) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the education of the general public about why Captain James Cook was so important to world history, and why it is so important that his ships and men were in Rhode Island. Although RIMAP is responsible for the historical research and archaeological fieldwork related to the discovery of Cook’s men and ships in Rhode Island, the Cook Foundation acts as an advisor, especially as this project matures to create the museum it deserves.
Statement of Purpose:
- locate and identify the submerged cultural resources of Rhode Island waters. Cultural resources may include shipwrecks, debris fields, submerged man-made structures and innundated terrestrial sites.
- study the submerged cultural resources of Rhode Island waters in a manner consistent with appropriate underwater archaeology practices.
- determine those submerged cultural resources that are historically important.
- develop programs by which the historically important submerged cultural resources may be protected from damage.
- develop programs by which the submerged cultural resources of Rhode Island may be shared with the diving and non-diving public in a non-destructive manner.
- locate and study sites on land related to the industries and individuals that contributed to the maritime history of Rhode Island.