ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the first project based on the wreck site of the 18-century British vessel HMS Swift; because we believe it best represents the progress of our underwater archaeology program. The chapter presents an overview of current research being done by the Underwater Archaeology Program of Argentina's Instituto Nacional de Antropologia, with a special focus on the HMS Swift research project. The HMS Swift was a British sloop of war that sank in March 1770 in Puerto Deseado, Patagonia. The accident took place when the ship hit an uncharted submerged rock during an exploration voyage in the South Atlantic when it was commissioned to defend the British military base of Port Egmont in Malvinas/Falkland islands. The archaeological research also considers a range of further issues, such as formation processes that involve other disciplines such as marine biology and geology.
