Ships And Maritime Landscapes

This volume gathers 88 contributions related to the theme 'Ships and Maritime Landscapes' of the Thirteenth International Symposium on Boat and Ship Archaeology (ISBSA 13) held in Amsterdam on the 7th to 12th October 2012. The articles include both papers and poster presentations by experts in the field of nautical archaeology, history of ships and shipbuilding, and naval architecture. The contributions deal not only with the theme of maritime landscapes but also with a variety of ship related subjects, like regional watercraft, construction and typology, material applications and design, outfitting, reconstruction and current research.

Maritime cultural landscapes are collections of submerged archaeological sites, or combinations of terrestrial and submerged sites that reflect the relationship between humans and the water. These landscapes can range in size from a single beach to an entire coastline and can include areas of terrestrial sites now inundated as well as underwater sites that are now desiccated. However, what binds all of these sites together is the premise that each aspect of the landscape –cultural, political, environmental, technological, and physical – is interrelated and can not be understood without reference to the others. In this maritime cultural landscape approach, individual sites are treated as features within the larger landscape and the interpretation of single sites add to a larger analysis of a region or culture. This approach provides physical and theoretical links between terrestrial and underwater archaeology as well as prehistoric and historic archaeology; consequently, providing a framework for integrating such diverse topics as trade, resource procurement, habitation, industrial production, and warfare into a holistic study of the past. Landscape studies foster broader perspectives and approaches, extending the study of maritime cultures beyond the shoreline. Despite this potential, the archaeological study of maritime landscapes is a relatively untried approach with many questions regarding the methods and perspectives needed to effectively analyze these landscapes. The chapters in this volume, which include contributions from the United States, the United Kingdom, Norway, and Australia, address many of the theoretical and methodological questions surrounding maritime cultural landscapes. The authors comprise established scholars as well as archaeologists at the beginning of their careers, providing a healthy balance of experience and innovation. The chapters also demonstrate parity between method and theory, where the varying interpretations of culture and space are given equal weight with the challenges of investigating both wet and dry sites across large areas.

This volume represents a more Africanist approach to the framework of maritime landscapes and challenges of adapting international heritage policy such as the UNESCO convention. While the concept of a maritime landscape is very broad, a more focused thematic strategy draws together a number of case studies in South Africa, Namibia, Tanzania, and Nigeria with a common thread. Specifically, the contributors address the sub-theme of sea ports and sea power as part of understanding the African maritime landscape. Sea ports and surrounds are dynamic centers of maritime culture supporting a rich diversity of cultural groups and economic activities. Strategic locations along the African coastline have associations with indigenous maritime communities and trade centers, colonial power struggles and skirmishes, establishment of naval bases and operations, and World War I and II engagements.

Research into the anthropogenic and taphonomic processes that affect the formation of maritime archaeological resources has grown significantly over the last decade in both theory and the analysis of specific sites and associated material culture. The addition of interdisciplinary inquiry, investigative techniques, and analytical modeling, from fields such as engineering, oceanography, and marine biology have increased our ability to trace the unique pathways through which archaeological sites progress from initial deposition to the present, yet can also link individual sites into an integrated socio-environmental maritime landscape. This edited volume presents a global perspective of current research in maritime archaeological landscape formation processes. In addition to “classically” considered submerged material culture and geography, or those that can be accessed by traditional underwater methodology, case studies include less-often considered sites and landscapes. These landscapes, for example, require archaeologists to use geophysical marine survey equipment to characterize extensive areas of the seafloor or go above the surface to access maritime archaeological resources that have received less scholarly attention.

In its 11,000 year human history, the Isthmus of Panamá has been dominated by its relationship to the sea and the rivers that feed it. A unique marine environment, the land bridge shaped its inhabitants’ activities, and those inhabitants shaped the Isthmus—from harvesting resources to physically transforming the land to link two oceans. This seminal work explores this intersection between people and the environment, mining the archaeological and ethnological record created during the formation and development of Panamá's maritime cultural landscape. Assessing sites both submerged and on land, the authors explore the maritime history of the isthmus through its many stages: from its prehistoric period through Spanish colonialism to the building of the canal and its function as a route for modern-day maritime traffic. Combining archaeology, history, geography, and economic history, this volume situates Panamá's canal and isthmus in the global economy and world maritime culture, while providing a more complex understanding of human adaptation and the persistence of culture.

Urbanism Under Sail: An Archaeology of Fluit Ships in Early Modern Everyday Life - Niklas Eriksson. In the seventeenth- and early eighteenth centuries fluits were the most common ships used in the trade between the Dutch Republic and Sweden. The fluit was ubiquitous, becoming such a fixture in both the maritime and urban landscapes that these ships were almost invisible. Despite there having been thousands of more or less identical ships built, surprisingly little is known about their sculptural embellishments, how space on board was arranged and how early modern everyday life was lived on board. Far from all voyages reached their destination. Down in the cold and dark brackish water of the Baltic Sea, the conditions for preservation of organic material are optimal and several of the unfortunate fluits still remain intact today. Inspired by phenomenological approaches in archaeology this thesis focuses on the lived experience of fluits. Using well-preserved wrecks it examines seemingly mundane everyday aspects, from the physical arrangements for eating, sleeping and answering nature's call to their rearrangement for naval use. The study concludes with a consideration of the architectonical contribution of the fluit to the urban landscape.

This collection of 19 articles focuses on the archaeology of shipwrecks, harbours, and maritime cultural landscapes in Mediterranean region.

This title is a comprehensive survey of maritime archaeology as seen through the eyes of nearly fifty scholars at a time when maritime archaeology has established itself as a mature branch of archaeology.