Mensun Bound | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 4 February 1953 |
| Nationality | British |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | Fairleigh Dickinson University Rutgers University |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Underwater archaeology |
| Institutions | Oxford University |
Mensun Bound (born 4 February 1953) is a British maritime archaeologist born in Stanley, Falkland Islands. He is best known as director of exploration for two expeditions to the Weddell Sea which led to the rediscovery of the Endurance,[1] in which Sir Ernest Shackleton and a crew of 27 men sailed for the Antarctic on the 1914–1917 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. The ship sank after being crushed by the ice on 21 November 1915. It was rediscovered by the Endurance22 expedition on 5 March 2022.[1]
He is also known for directing the excavation of an Etruscan 6th-century BC shipwreck off Giglio Island, Italy,[2] the oldest known shipwreck of the Archaic era, and the Hoi An Cargo which revolutionized the understanding of Ming-Vietnamese porcelain from Vietnam's art-historical Golden Age.[3][4]
In 2014–15, Bound led a search for the Imperial German East Asia Squadron, sunk during the Battle of the Falkland Islands in 1914, and since then in AUV and ROV surveys in depths up to 6,000 m. He eventually located the squadron's flagship, SMS Scharnhorst, in April 2019, 105 years after her sinking.[5]
Discovery Channel has called Bound "the Indiana Jones of the Deep".[4]
- ^ a b BBC News, 9.3.22
- ^ "Mensun Bound - Etruscan Shipwreck & Flute Presentation - Isola del Giglio". YouTube. 30 June 2018.
- ^ Pope, Frank (2007). Dragon Sea. Penguin. ISBN 9780718150013.
- ^ a b "Meet the Excavation Director". BBC.com. BBC. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
- ^ "German WWI wreck Scharnhorst discovered off Falklands". BBC News. 5 December 2019. Retrieved 5 December 2019.