Following the six-year archaeological campaign at Saint-Vaast-La-Hougue, which from 1990 to 1995 brought together professional and volunteers, the Natière site was, for a decade, the flagship underwater archaeological project along France's western coastline.
The campaign drew volunteers flocked from all over western France, as well as students, professionals from outside France and civil servants from other government departments in charge of protecting France maritime cultural heritage. The project was a training ground for professionals on whom the management of western France's underwater archaeological heritage would depend. However, the constraints linked to this training role involved considerable extra work for both the project leaders and the entire team.
This was all the more true as the team also welcomed a very large number of visitors, financial partners, archaeologists, diving specialists, managers of applied archaeological research labs, museum curators, shipwreck finders, naval history enthusiasts, and so on. Although time-consuming, these contacts contributed to the team's efforts, and established the Natière site as a place of exchange for all those interested in Atlantic seagoing history.
