THE RESEARCH GROUP FOR NAVAL ARCHEOLOGY

Created in 1982, GRAN (a non-profit organization in accordance with the law of 1901) has as its objective the organization and supervision of archeological undersea excavations and research on maritime history.

The society has about eighty members in various capacities: archeologists, historians, civil and military engineers, researchers from the CNRS, architects, film makers, and photographers.
Several interim members from other countries participate in the work in progress.

Since its creation, GRAN has conducted numerous prospecting, survey, and excavation operations:

· the storeship La Baleine of the Royal French Navy (1710) at Port-Cros (survey);

· the Russian vessel Slava Rossii with 66 cannons (1780), near the island of Levant (excavation);

· Patriote, a merchant ship participating in Bonaparte's Egyptian campaign (1798), at Alexandria (research, followed by excavation);

· the Genoese "nave" La Lomellina (1516) at Villefranche-sur-mer (excavation);

· the armored frigate Magenta (1875) at Toulon (research, excavation);

· mooring of the Ile de Gorée (Senegal) for UNESCO and the Senegalese government;

· surveysin the estuary of the Loire for the city of Nantes ;

· inventory of undersea cultural goods in Martinique for the Ministry of Culture and local assemblies;

· inventory of undersea cultural goods in French Polynesia for the government of the territory of French Polynesia.

GRAN's project on the slave trade, called "The Sunken Memory of the Slave Trade" was listed among the participating projects for "The World-wide Decade of Cultural Development of UNESCO", and was integrated into the UNESCO program "The Slave Route", which was launched in 1994 at Ouidah (Bénin).

Groupe de Recherche en Archéologie Navale (GRAN)
Service historique de la Marine - Passage de la Corderie
BP 45 - 83 800 Toulon Naval
http://archeonavale.org

Tel. (Toulon) : +33 (0)4 94.42.07.26
Tel. and Fax (Béziers) : +33 (0)4 67 35 92 01
E-mail : mrgueroutmaxadrien@9business.fr
Tel./Fax Polynesia : 00.689.53.10.85
E-mail : veccella@mail.pf

President : Alain Bellot ^*
Vice-president : Max Guérout ^*
Chef de l'antenne Polynésie : Robert Veccella
Chef de l'antenne Toulon : Guy Martin

* Associated Member of Laboratory for the History of Modern Naval Archeology (LHAMEM)
URA D 1989-CNRS - Musée de la Marine - Université de Paris IV, Sorbonne