Chris is South Carolina's Deputy State Archaeologist for Underwater and Head of the Underwater Archaeology Division of the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of South Carolina. A graduate of the Nautical Archaeology Program at Texas A&M University, Amer has extensive experience in the excavation and analysis of maritime archaeological sites and post medieval watercraft, ranging from vessels associated with the 16th century Basque whaling industry at Red Bay, Labrador to riverine and ocean going vessels in South Carolina waters. He has consulted and worked on numerous submerged archaeological sites throughout the US, Canada, and the Caribbean. Amer's research interests and background include post-medieval watercraft, historic ship construction and colonial shipyards, cultural resource management, remote sensing and GIS. Mr. Amer is co-principal investigator of the H.L. Hunley 1996 Assessment Project and the 1999 investigations of U.S.S Housatonic.

Why I got into underwater archaeology ....

According to my parents, I was interested in archaeology from a very early age. I began studying archaeology at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia during the early 1970s and was involved in excavations of land sites in the area. After I took SCUBA lessons in 1976 I began to realize that much history, and prehistory, resided beneath the oceans. I was interested in the peopling of the Americas via the Bering Land Bridge and realized that one possible route, the coastal route, would now be beneath a considerable depth of water. This led me to seek formal schooling in underwater archaeology. In the late 1970s the only graduate program in nautical archaeology was Dr. George Bass's program at Texas A & M University, so I enrolled. It was while studying in the Program that my interest turned to submerged historic sites and post-medieval small craft construction. Seven years of working with Parks Canada on the 16th century Basque whaling site at Red Bay, Labrador, piqued my interest in the dynamics of European cultures visiting and colonizing the New World during the Proto-historic period. The work I conducted on a converted British gunboat from the War of 1812 for my Master's thesis reinforced my desire to explore small watercraft construction. That desire that has been fulfilled in the prehistoric and historic culture-rich environment of the waterways of South Carolina, where I have worked as the state's underwater archaeologist since 1987.

Favorite quote

I have always been partial to Margaret Mead's 1928 Coming of Age in Samoa: "As the traveler who has been from home is wiser than he who has never left his own doorstep, so a knowledge of one other culture should sharpen our ability to scrutinize more steadily, to appreciate more lovingly, our own." Although, in my current profession, sometimes the words of Lucius Annaeus Seneca ring more true: "I was shipwrecked before I got aboard."

About SCIAA

The South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology (SCIAA) was established in 1963 as a University of South Carolina research institute and a State cultural resource management agency. As the latter, it serves as the main State agency concerned with South Carolina's Prehistoric and Historic Archaeology, and its discovery, study, revelation, and official safekeeping at a curatorial facility. As a University research institute, SCIAA initiates and conducts a broad range of field research and collections research throughout the State, participates in a very wide range of USC activities and duties, and contributes to the University infrastructure, and the USC publication series. Underwater Archaeology in South Carolina is administered by the Underwater Archaeology Division of SCIAA. The staff conducts compliance reviews for waterfront developments that might endanger underwater sites, researches and documents underwater sites in the state, offers public education programs, and issues Hobby, Intensive Survey, and Data Recovery Licences. We have offices in Columbia (the main office) and Charleston (a field office). Both offices offer internship opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students. The Sport Diver Archaeology Management Program (SDAMP) is administered through the Charleston Field Office located on the premises of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources on James Island. SDAMP functions as an administrative and educational Program for the sport divers of South Carolina. Administratively, SDAMP receives, processes, and responds to Artifact Recovery Forms submitted by licensed Hobby Divers.

SCIAA Home Page: http://www.cla.sc.edu/sciaa/sciaa.html
Maritime Heritage Home Page: http://www.cla.sc.edu/sciaa/staff/amerc/index.html

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