富兰克林北极探险沉船上发现的新文物

富兰克林北极探险沉船上发现的新文物

A collaborative team of researchers continues to piece together the circumstances underlying the mysterious disappearance of Sir John Franklin’s ill-fated expedition in search of the Northwest Passage. Now, underwater archaeologists unveil more than 350 newly recovered artifacts from HMS Erebus, one of two ships lost in the Arctic waters.

一个由研究人员组成的协作团队继续拼凑约翰·富兰克林爵士为寻找西北航道而进行的不幸的探险神秘失踪背后的情况。现在，水下考古学家公布了从HMS Erebus上发现的350多件新文物，这是两艘在北极水域失踪的船只之一。

The mission makes up the largest, most complex underwater archaeological recoveries in Canadian history. Over three weeks in the fall of 2019, Parks Canada’s Underwater Archaeology Team conducted 93 dives on HMS Erebus, logging nearly 110 hours. Divers used both traditional and innovative strategies to remove sediment from the buried artifacts so that they were able to map, photograph, and recover items including epaulets from a lieutenant’s uniform, ceramic dishes, a hairbrush with a satinwood handle and either boar or porcupine bristles, as well as a pencil case with its contents still inside. A number of recovered items believed to belong to the captain’s steward, Edmund Hoar, were also recovered, including sealing wax with a fingerprint.

该任务是加拿大历史上最大、最复杂的水下考古发现。在2019年秋季的三周时间里，加拿大帕克斯水下考古队在HMS Erebus上进行了93次潜水，记录时间接近110个小时。潜水员采用了传统和创新的策略来清除埋藏文物中的沉淀物，这样他们就能够绘制地图、拍摄照片，并回收物品，回收的物品包括中尉制服上的肩章、陶瓷餐具、金木柄的梳子、野猪或豪猪的鬃毛，还有一个铅笔盒，里面的东西还在。一些被认为属于船长的管家埃德蒙德·霍尔的物品也被找到了，包括带有指纹的封蜡。

Underwater archaeologists used a combination of traditional and innovative strategies to recover the artifacts. Parks Canada’s Underwater Archaeology Team

The items are currently housed at Parks Canada’s Conservation Laboratories in Ottawa where they are undergoing preliminary analysis that includes identifying their physical characteristics, conducting X-rays, creating illustrations and photographing of the items.

这些文物目前存放在渥太华的加拿大公园保护实验室，在那里他们正在进行初步的分析，包括鉴定它们的物理特征，进行x光扫描，制作插图和对这些文物进行拍照。

Last August, Parks Canada released never-before-seen footage of HMS Terror, the sister-ship of Erebus. The two ice-strengthened vessels left the River Thames in London in 1845 under the command of Captain John Franklin, who was attempting his third voyage in search of a Northwest Passage connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Two months after setting sail, the vessels were seen in Baffin Bay east of the passage entrance before disappearing with all 129 crew members. For the last 170 years, a trail of clues and oral accounts have allowed experts to piece together what may have happened to the expedition. Notes left by the crew explain that many of them survived for two years, living off their supplies of tinned food while their numbers slowly diminished, including Captain Franklin who died in June 1847. By April 1848, the remaining crew decided to walk towards the Canadian mainland, where Inuit reports describe seeing horribly thin white men. None of them survived, and mystery still surrounds the loss.

去年8月，加拿大公园发布了一段从未公开过的HMS Terror的视频。1845年，在约翰·富兰克林船长的指挥下，这两艘由冰加固的船只离开了伦敦的泰晤士河，当时富兰克林船长正在尝试他的第三次航行，寻找一条连接大西洋和太平洋的西北航道。起航两个月后，这些船只出现在通道入口以东的巴芬湾，随后连同全部129名船员一起消失。在过去的170年里，一系列的线索和口头描述让专家们拼凑出了探险队可能发生的事情。船员留下的笔记解释说，他们中的许多人存活了两年，靠罐头食品为生，而他们的数量却在慢慢减少，其中包括死于1847年6月的富兰克林船长。到1848年4月，剩下的船员决定步行前往加拿大大陆，因纽特人报告说，他们在那里看到了瘦得可怕的白人。他们无一人幸存，至今仍是个谜。

The discovery of the crew’s artifacts contributes a deeper understanding of historical and Inuit oral accounts of the Franklin expedition.

船员手工艺品的发现有助于加深对历史和因纽特人对富兰克林远征的口头描述的理解。

“The sheer volume of discoveries this year at HMS Erebus is an exciting development in our ongoing work at the Wrecks of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror National Historic Site,” said William Beveridge, Executive Director Inuit Heritage Trust, in a statement. “As more stories of the Franklin Expedition and its association with Inuit are revealed through these latest discoveries, the Trust will continue to incorporate Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit in the preservation, presentation, and management of these artifacts with our partners in Parks Canada."

因纽特遗产信托基金会执行理事威廉·贝弗里奇在一份声明中说:“今年埃里伯斯号的发现数量之多，对于我们正在进行的对埃里伯斯号沉船和恐怖国家历史遗址的调查工作来说，是一个令人兴奋的进展。随着富兰克林探险队及其与因纽特人之间的更多故事通过这些最新发现被揭露，基金会将继续与我们在加拿大公园的合作伙伴一起，将因纽特人Qaujimajatuqangit纳入这些文物的保护、展示和管理中。”

Today, the locations of the two vessels have been designated a National Historic Site jointly managed by Parks Canada and Inuit leaders. It is not open to the public and a permit is required to enter the protected areas.

今天，这两艘船的位置已被指定为国家历史遗址，由加拿大公园和因纽特人的领导人共同管理。它不向公众开放，进入保护区需要许可证。

A pair of Royal Navy lieutenant’s epaulets recovered from the wreckage of the HMS Erebus. Parks Canada’s Underwater Archaeology Team

A piece of sealing wax bearing a fingerprint recovered from the wreckage of the HMS Erebus. Parks Canada’s Underwater Archaeology Team

A closed bottle of perfume recovered from the wreckage of the HMS Erebus. Parks Canada’s Underwater Archaeology Team

A hairbrush recovered from the wreckage of the HMS Erebus. Parks Canada’s Underwater Archaeology Team

A pencil case and its contents recovered from the wreckage of the HMS Erebus. Parks Canada’s Underwater Archaeology Team