Director

Michael Walsh MA PhD MCIfA MIAI

Michael established Coracle Archaeology Ltd in summer 2019, following several years as the head of marine archaeology at commercial archaeological consultancies around the UK. He has extensive experience in the research and commercial spheres, and has provided marine archaeological support for numerous developments in the UK and overseas, including offshore wind farms, electrical systems, interconnector and telecoms cables, port and harbour developments, tidal lagoons and arrays, and pipelines.

Michael has directed many large-scale geophysical and archaeological surveys around the world, including one of the largest non-invasive surveys ever undertaken in Abu Dhabi. He has worked on a variety of maritime sites in the UK, Ireland, the Red Sea and the Gulf, and was project manager for the excavation of the London, a 17th century warship that sank in the Thames Estuary. An experienced diver, Michael completed his doctoral thesis at the University of Southampton in 2006, focusing on the Pudding Pan Roman wreck site in the outer Thames Estuary, and has published extensively on both marine heritage management and the archaeology of the Roman world. He has also taught geophysical survey methods to students in the UAE and from Birzeit University in the West Bank, Palestinian Authority. Michael is a visiting research fellow at the University of Southampton.

Michael’s book on the Roman shipwreck at Pudding Pan can be found here.