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Contact a Local Chapter nearest you to register interest
for a Nautical Archaeology Society (NAS) Level 1, 2 or 3 or

NAS is a worldwide recognized certification course with Certificate Passport

Available to all members - Easy to join!!!
 

The video below was taken at a NAS level 1 class in Brockville in 2009

This class was a mostly technical divers, but everyone can join in no matter what type of dive gear you have.

The NAS I course is open to about 10-24 participants. The schedule can be customized, but include classroom sessions on Friday evening and Saturday morning. On Saturday afternoon we create a "shipwreck" on dry land for the students to survey, on Saturday evening we take our "shipwreck" to the bottom of a swimming pool in confined water.  On Sunday, students will dive a local site to put their skills to the test on a real shipwreck.

The NAS program was first developed by NAS to train divers working on the archaeological recording of the Mary Rose, the flagship of King Henry VIII.  Today the aim of the programs is to build understanding of marine archaeology and teach people the practical skills they need to work on an underwater archaeology site. You don’t need any previous training or experience – and you don’t have to be a diver to take the course.  Non-Divers can participate doing above water work for their team.

In Ontario, NAS training focuses on surveys of underwater sites. The goals of NAS I are:

1. to introduce basic concepts of marine archaeology;
2. to introduce underwater mapping and recording techniques;
3. to provide a hands-on opportunity to develop mapping and recording skills with supervision.

The Nautical Archaeology Society is dedicated to building an interest in our underwater cultural heritage and advancing education in nautical archaeology. It aims to preserve our underwater archaeological heritage by involving everyone – divers and non-divers, scientists, historians and anyone with an interest.

As of February 2009, SOS has received their own NAS license to teach the classes.  The is a major step forward!  A NAS Tutor class was held in May 2009 where we now have 10 Tutors to teach the program versus the 1 we used to have at the Ministry of Culture (and the long absences where there was no one in the position).

S.O.S. NAS Tutor Training was held May 9 and 10th 2009 - Class photo

From left to right: Marc-André Bernier (Senior NAS Tutor for Canada),
S.O.S. NAS Tutors (some of us in training, some now fully qualified): Brian Prince, Marg Barker,
David Taylor, Bryan Thomas, Chris Phinney (Senior NAS Tutor for SOS), Nadine Kopp, Brandi Lockhart, Chris Holloway,
Nathalie Lasselin, Ben Holthof

NAS Introduction & Level 1 (typical schedule)

Friday night - Wooden ship building, Site artifacts

Saturday morning - Archaeological principles, Artifact research

Saturday afternoon - Site mapping, Site history (or Pool)

Saturday evening - U/W mapping in Pool (or Site mapping, Site history)

Sunday all day - U/W mapping on SCUBA in open water

CHECK OUT OUR EVENTS PAGE
TO SEE WHAT'S HAPPENING WHEN

Learn More about the NAS               SOS Homepage   
                          

NAS  Level 1  TRAINING in 2002

Peter Engelbert - Lecture on wooden ship building using slides of drawings and actual underwater sites - ca. 2002	Learning to make measurements (to within a centimetre) using a baseline
Learning team coordination on land before trying underwater	Practicing in the pool before actual measurements and data recording on a shipwreck underwater

Photos courtesy: June Ritchie of SOS Ottawa

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