REDISCOVER THE HISTORY OF THE BAHAMAS
Ocean Dispatches
Allen Exploration’s maritime investigations in the northern Bahamas since 2018 are focused on re-assessing the Spanish wreck of the Maravillas (1656) and conducting underwater reconnaissance to search for additional sections of wreckage. The holistic project includes a variety of investigative and supportive branches, including maritime historical research, archaeological and scientific fieldwork, and philanthropic and educational endeavors. Where former expeditions were motivated exclusively by the hunt for treasure, AllenX is science led, with the aim of contributing to an enhanced understanding of and respect for the maritime legacy of The Bahamas and training a new generation of Bahamian divers. The discoveries are conserved, studied and displayed in The Bahamas Maritime Museum, founded by Carl and Gigi Allen on Grand Bahama Island.
Allen Exploration Ocean Dispatches 1
EXPEDITION BACKGROUND
Allen Exploration’s maritime investigations in the northern Bahamas since 2018 are focused on re-assessing the Spanish wreck of the Maravillas (1656) and conducting underwater reconnasissance to search for additional sections of wreckage. The holistic project incudes a variety of investigative and supportive branches, including maritime historical research, archaeological and scientific fieldwork, and philanthropic and educational endeavors.
Allen Exploration Ocean Dispatches 2
THE BAHAMAS LOST SHIPS PROJECT
In 2023 The Bahamas Lost Ships Project was initiated by Allen Exploration and James Jenney to evaluate the character of shipping lost in the section of the northern Bahamas under archaeological survey by Allen Exploration. Some 176 maritime losses were identified within the historical record, dating between c. 1526 and 1976.
Allen Exploration Ocean Dispatches 3
SILVER FEVER IN THE BAHAMAS: THE HISTORICAL SALVAGE OF THE MARAVILLAS
Allen Exploration’s maritime investigations in the northern Bahamas since 2018 are focused on re-assessing the Spanish wreck of the Maravillas (1656) and conducting underwater reconnaissance to search for additional sections of wreckage. The holistic project incudes a variety of investigative and supportive branches, including maritime historical research, archaeological and scientific fieldwork, and philanthropic and educational endeavors.
Allen Exploration Ocean Dispatches 4
THE MARAVILLAS MATRIX: PIECING TOGETHER IN TIME & SPACE A SPANISH GALLEON IN THE NORTHERN BAHAMAS
In this report, AllenX begins to untangle the impacts – extracting filters and scrambling devices – that led to the creation and development of the scatter trail. By relating the finds to the framework of a galleon matrix, the spatial origins of the artifacts on the Maravillas are reconstructed, along with the processes through which the ship broke up and dispersed.
Allen Exploration Ocean Dispatches 5
GREATER ABACO'S SHIPWRECKED ECHOES OF THE CARIBBEAN PLANTATION ECONOMY
In this installment of the Ocean Dispatches, we focus on a notable cluster of shipwrecks that were witness to the region’s major role in the transatlanic and intra-regional US slave trade. In addition, we investigate the major role of Cuba in sustaining enslavement deep into the 19th century and the illegal involvement of US ships in trafficking and transport.
