V Selvakumar

The study trip which took place from July to October 2004 related to research on the boat discovered at Taikkal-Kadakkarapally. One of the main objectives of the research was to understand the origin, technological affinities and significance of this sailboat. This objective was purely academic. The second objective of the research was to study the viability of setting up a museum for housing the sailboat. The third objective was to investigate the boats that are being conserved in the museums in the UK and to work out the possible method of conservation for the preservation of this boat. It was also the aim to work out a possible design and contents of the museum based on the maritime museums of the UK, to receive training in boat documentation and marine archaeology and to explore how the boat can be used as a means for local development and the preservation of heritage. The visit included work at libraries and with scholars at the University of Cambridge and the Ancient India and Iran Trust. Cambridge, at the University of Oxford. and at Southampton University's Department of Maritime Archaeology. It also included visits to the Boat Museum Dover, and the Historic Dockyard and English Heritage Centre for Archaeology, Portsmouth.  I also visited Eyemouth, near Edinburgh,  for boat recording training, with Dr Lucy Blue (University of Southampton) and attended the cultural heritage conference " Managing the Maritime Heritage" at Portsmouth.