Heritage sites, Archaeological discoveries, History of Archaeology

Queensland Museum

Location

South Pacific

Country

Australia

Year of Research

1983

Culture

It was the Royal Navy warship dispatched in to the South Pacific in search of the infamous Bounty mutineers.
Today, the mutiny of the Bounty remains one of the best-known stories in the history of maritime.
It features visible traces of early hunter-gatherer communities, of the Inca Empire (15th to 16th centuries) and of the fight for independence in the 19th and 20th centuries.
However, there are aware of the equally classic story of the Pandora. Few know of the amazing efforts of the Royal Navy to recover the “pirated” Bounty, and bring the mutineers to justice.
And few understand the archaeological meaning of the wreck remains being uncovered today in Australian waters.
In her day, HMS Pandora was a appreciated and proud member of the Royal Navy.
Today the Pandora is one of the most important shipwrecks in the Southern Hemisphere.
The Queensland Museum has been excavating the wreck and piecing together the Pandora mystery since 1983.