Maritime Archaeology

In the Hellenistic Period, Rhodes played an important role in the Mediterranean trade. Rhodian wine was transported in stamped amphorae produced both on the island and in the Peraea. Following the Lexicon of Eponym Dies on Rhodian Amphora Stamps (4 volumes, 2015-2017), we present here the second of four volumes on Rhodian fabricants, with 1434 dies belonging to 120 fabricants whose names start with the letters from beta to zeta. The total collection will overpass 4750 dies endorsed by about 472 fabricants. The stamps belong mostly to the Benaki Collection hosted in the Graeco-Roman Museum of Alexandria, and from the excavations in the city both made by the Museum and CEAlex. For dies which do not exist in Alexandria, we present samples from other cities in Egypt as well as from Delos, Athens National Museum, Athenian Agora and some previously published stamps from excavations sites in other Eastern Mediterranean consumption centres. The stamps are presented in the alphabetical order of the fabricants. In the matrix names, numbers do not refer to any chronological dating order or stylistic difference but to the order of our registration. Under the title of each fabricant, following some brief information – the activity period of the fabricant dated by means of his connection with the eponyms relying mostly on the chronology established by Gerald Finkielsztejn, the total number of matrices naming the fabricant, the eventual associations with eponyms –, the different identified dies naming him/her are presented with a photograph and a rubbing, beginning with the dies accompanied by month-names in alphabetical order followed by the dies without month names. We hope that this lexicon will help the archaeologists to identify the stamps found in their excavations as well as the specialists of amphorology and ancient trade.

The Karian Chersonesos, a rough peninsula in southwestern Asia Minor, is rich in archaeological findings including a well-preserved coastal landscape with a large number of small harbours or landing places. Most of them are simple quay structures built from a rough quay wall that is backfilled with large rubble stones. They are datable only through their archaeological context, while the construction technique seems to be more or less unchanged between at least the Hellenistic and the Early Byzantine periods. A selection of these simple harbours is presented in this paper.

Submerged metals are continuously affected by the chemical processes of corrosion, the destructive degradation of metal by chemical or electrochemical reactions within the marine environment (Valenca et al., 2022:2-3; Venugopal, 1994:35). Over time, metal ions at anodic sites defuse into electrolytic solutions from the oxidising reactions occurring at cathodic sites, causing the creation of corrosion byproducts, like rust on iron, and the loss of structural mass. The different reduction reactions in the microstructures of alloys and the imperfections found within refined materials, like carbon slag in steel, are targeted by this process, essentially reverting the chemically unstable materials back to their more stable original forms (Moore III, 2015:192; MacLeod, 2016a:90-92). The deterioration of metallic shipwreck hulls has become a growing concern within the field of marine conservation as many of the fuel tankers deliberately targeted in WWII threaten to release trapped fuel and chemical cargoes after nearly eight decades of exposure to a range of corrosive environments (Barrett, 2011:4-5). With the deterioration rate of ship hulls averaging at around ±0.1-0.4 mm of loss per year and the thickness of ship deck plates from the 1940s to the 1960s generally ranging from 1-4 cm in thickness, the window to act on the majority of potentially polluting shipwrecks (PPW) before a catastrophic breach occurs is closing (

Political boundaries demarcated on geopolitical considerations often split a continuous cultural region, separating places of faith from their followers and traditional cultural landmarks from the communities that used them. The passage of time hardens these man-made partitions, and the memory associated with these once familiar sites is often lost with successive generations. Thus trans-boundary shared cultural heritage sites and zones in spite of their merit share an uphill task in terms of their identification as trans-national nominations for UNESCO World Heritage status. This is even more challenging in the context of maritime heritage.
Within the narrative of terrestrial histories of nation states, accounts of maritime heritage often become an extension of land-based concerns. A paradigm shift to understanding the history of the sea destabilizes linear mapping of time and chronologies of political dynasties and empires. The fluidity of seascapes, trans-national narratives and migrations challenge the sanctity of borders and of terrestrial accounts of the past. The focus shifts from rootedness in the soil to routes and intertwined histories of overlapping spaces. How is this fluidity of seascapes to be balanced against the rigidity of maritime boundaries and zones?

The shipwreck of the Columns, dated at the end of the 2nd c. AD, lies on a sandy bottom at a depth of 2.5 to 4 m in the bay that opens south of the promontory on which the Syracusans, at the beginning of the sixth century BC, founded the colony of Kamarina. The main cargo consisted of a pair of half-finished columns 80 cm in diameter and approximately 6 m long. The new research on this site, known since the 1970s, is part of an organic program of study of the historical-archaeological evidence preserved along the Ragusa coastline by the University of Udine, in collaboration with the Superintendence of the Sea of Sicily and with the support of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology.

The first settlers of the Canary Islands arrived at this archipelago from northern Africa between the 2nd and 5th centuries CE. These communities probably knew metallurgy in their area of origin, although an adaptation process must have taken place for the successful development of woodworking strategies based on stone/bone technologies in a volcanic archipelago. In this paper, the first experimental program focusing on Prehispanic indigenous woodworking activities is presented. Conducted in 2022 in Tenerife, 41 experiments explored technological traces of specific woodworking actions and techniques, using replicas of tools made from obsidian, coarse-grained volcanic and pumice rocks, as well as transformed ovicaprid bones serving as bone chisels, wooden wedges and hammers. The experimentation addressed some of the woodworking chaîne opératoire stages, generating a reference collection of tool marks produced under controlled variables. The obtained experimental dataset enabled statistical comparisons with diverse archaeological artifacts in terms of typology and origin. Our results provide preliminary observations regarding actions, types of tools and techniques. In addition, this data suggests that the technological adaptation of aboriginal societies to woodworking with non-metal tools produced similar results on different islands.

Las fuentes para documentar la historia de las
mujeres iberas provienen principalmente de
la arqueología y del arte. La antigua sociedad
ibera no cuenta con textos propios y los autores
clásicos que la mencionaron lo hicieron
aplicando los esquemas culturales que regían
en sus países de origen o describiendo curiosidades
de su experiencia personal

The ancient settlement complex with harbour and fish ponds in Fizine in the western part of Portorose Bay is one of the most interesting archaeological sites on the Slovenian coast in northwestern Istria on the upper Adriatic. The area was inhabited at least from the last decades of the Roman Republic (second half of the 1st century BC) to the early Middle Ages (6th/7th century AD), thanks to its naturally sheltered position from north winds. This paper reviews the results and findings of archaeological research since 1963, focusing on the finds from the 2017, 2018, and 2021 underwater interventions.
The underwater architecture on the nearshore part of the seabed was recognised as a facility for breeding and/or keeping marine animals (vivarium) with landing piers. Remains on the walls of the extensive jetty forming two enclosed basins are reliable indicators of the relative rise in sea level from the beginning of the 1st century AD, when the building was constructed, to the present day, estimated at 1.5 m ± 20 cm. The presumed fish farm and associated shoreline facilities were probably in use until the 5th century.
Recent underwater trial excavations in the western part of the bay revealed a stone fill combined with horizontal logs and wooden piles that probably served as a breakwater. Special attention is given to the finds of a yard or spar of a spritsail and a masthead with integral pulley, both of which were reused as mooring piles, as well as discarded pieces of ship rigging and fishing gear. The AMS dating of the wooden elements and the pottery from the associated deposits attests to the use of the harbour between the 3rd and 4th/5th centuries.

Across the western Indian Ocean, the 11th-14th centuries have variously been conceptualised as either a period of exceptional growth (Red Sea, East Africa) or stagnation (Persian/Arabian Gulf). Although these narratives have engendered a profusion of studies prioritising economic and political development, they are rarely concerned with how large-scale developments influenced life “on the ground’. Furthermore, trans-regional syntheses remain the exception, rather than the rule, especially when it comes to archaeological studies. This paper draws on evidence from several key sites across the western Indian Ocean to examine how the developments of the 11th-14th centuries impacted the living conditions and livelihoods of people settled on sites involved with oceanic trade. It also considers whether narratives of economic “boom” and “bust” can (or should) be problematised. It adopts a habitus-based approach, prioritising evidence for significant changes in lifeways within the spheres of living environment, diet, and productive activities. It is based on the research that has informed my MA thesis (completed in 2018) and on my more recent doctoral work.

Penelitian ini ditujukan untuk mengetahui status kepemilikan harta bawah laut menurut hukum positif dan hukum islam. Dalam hukum positif harta bawah laut merupakan kategori harta Cagar Budaya yang kepemilikanya merupakan hak milik Negara sebagai mana dalam Undang Undang No.5 Tahun 1992 dan PP No.10 Tahun 1993 tentang Benda Cagar Budaya. oleh karenanya kepemilikan secara individu adalah dilarang oleh Negara. sementara menurut islam harta temuan yang terpendam dalam bumi disebut dengan ikaz yang dalam bahasa sederhana dikenal dengan harta karun pada dasarnya boleh dimiliki secara individu dengan kewajiban membayar zakat sebesar 20 persen. akan tetapi pendapat ulama lain mengatakan bahwa harta temuan tersebut sebaiknya diserahkan kepada penguasa demi kebermanfaatan yang lebih luas. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan studi pustaka. Oleh karena itu sumber penelitian diperolah dari kitab-kitab maupun buku secara langsung maupun referensi lain yang berkaitan degan pokok bahasan. Juga ti...

A Proposal for diversion of Maoya to Kurunagala district across the Dambadeniya electorate is most important project that can be facilitate  farming and agriculture providing excess water from MAOYA . Ellanga system in Kurunagala district need more water to achieve aims and objectives of  future agriculture and social development.

The scope of this paper is to interpret the road followed by Alexander and Nearchus on their way back to Babylon from the Indus delta to the country of the fi sh-eaters (Gedrosia). To achieve this goal both classical sources and personal fi eldwork experience in Lower Sindh and Las Bela province of Balochistan were taken into consideration. Given the absence of archaeological fi nds attributable to the Hellenistic period, the unreliability of most of the classical chronicles that were written centuries after the death of Alexander, the landscape changes that aff ected the aforementioned territories during the last two millennia, and the controversial results obtained by fi eldwork by British offi cers and geographers during the period of their conquest of the region, our data on the Macedonian retreat from the country is very poor. Nevertheless, just a few topics can be reinterpreted on the basis of the fi eld evidence acquired during the last 10 years. They regard the way, and the ...

The Kyrenia Ship, found off the north coast of Cyprus, is a key vessel in the history of scientific underwater excavations and in the history of Greek shipbuilding. The first volume of the site’s final publication appeared in 2023 and provides detailed archaeological information tightly constraining the dating of the ship. A very specific date range is proposed: ca. 294–290 BCE, but is based on a less than certain reading of one coin recovered from the ship. While there is clear benefit to finding high-precision dates for the Kyrenia Ship and its rich assemblage using independent scientific dating (combined with Bayesian chronological modeling), efforts to do so proved more challenging and complex than initially anticipated. Strikingly, extensive dating on both wooden materials from the ship and on short-lived contents from the final use of the ship fail to offer dates using the IntCal20 calibration
curve—the current Northern Hemisphere radiocarbon calibration curve at the time of writing—that correspond with the archaeological constraints. The issue rests with a segment of IntCal20 ca. 350–250 BCE reliant on legacy pre-AMS radiocarbon data. We therefore measured new known-age tree-ring samples 350–250 BCE, and, integrating another series of new known-age tree-ring data, we obtained a redefined and more accurate calibration
record for the period 433–250 BCE. These new data permit a satisfactory dating solution for the ship and may even indicate a date that is a (very) few years more recent than current estimations. These new data in addition confirm and only very slightly modify the dating recently published for the Mazotos ship, another Greek merchant ship from the southern coast of Cyprus. Our work further investigated whether ship wood samples impregnated with a common preservative, polyethylene glycol (PEG), can be cleaned successfully, including a known-age test.

The following sets of photographs take historic images from the Royal National Park, south of Sydney, Australia, and compare them to a modern photograph taken from the same location. The Royal National Park was created in 1879 just south of Sydney. It was the second national park in the world. National parks were originally created to help solve public health concerns in industrial cities, such as overcrowding and unsanitary conditions.
Many of the historic photos are from the Sutherland Shire Library and others are from the Howard Stanley Collection.

The systematic excavations in the Aegean Basin provided fertile soil by bridging the Late Neolithic (LN) period with the following Early Bronze Age (EBA). To that end, the hundreds of recently discovered of images of boats from Strofilas on Andros and Vathy on Astypalaia significantly enhance the limited database of boat imagery in the Aegean, highlighting structural details untraced to former evidence. Additionally, their dating in the transition from LN to EBA offers an uninterrupted continuum of the evolution of the boat.
These rock-art images are fragile and at constant risk due to environmental and human agencies. Thereby, the implementation of a novel non-destructive recording method was vital. Hence, they were documented through the Highlighted-Reflectance Transformation Imaging technique, revealing information not observable through other conventional means.
To move beyond the Art Historical approach, a more technologically rigorous methodology was incorporated for their analysis by exploiting the concept of reverse engineering as well as the tools offered by ship science and computational mathematics. This methodological framework allowed us to meticulously examine the image of the boat and observe aspects of Neolithic boat typology, architecture and technology. Additionally, it enabled their reconstruction and testing, providing us with insights into their technical traits, such as seakeeping, resistance and performance. This took place in MAXSURF and the towing tank of the Boldrewood Campus (University of Southampton).

Sumberdaya perikanan di Indonesia pada saat ini belum dikelola dengan baik. Sebagai organisasi lintas batas, RARE bekerja di seluruh dunia untuk memberdayakan dan mengedukasi penduduk lokal untuk ikut serta mengelola budidaya perikanan dan pelestarian ekosistem perairan. Banyak faktor penyebab ketidakefektifan pengelolaan budidaya perikanan, antara lain kurangnya pengetahuan, minimnya alat pembantu, dan kurangnya bantuan dan perhatian dari pemerintah setempat. Dalam hal ini, RARE bekerja sama dengan pemerintahan Indonesia untuk mengidentifikasi langkah-langkah, hambatan dan inovasi dalam pengelolaan budidaya perikanan di Indonesia. Dalam hal ini, RARE dapat melakukan upaya pemberdayaan masyarakat lokal melalui empat fungsi dasar organisasi internasional yaitu fungsi informasi, fungsi normative, fungsi rule creating, dan fungsi role supervisory

Essendo stato per 55 anni attivo Collaboratore degli Uffici Storici della Marina e dell’Aeronautica, e ancora oggi apolitico, ho scritto questo saggio, a 80 anni dalla fine del fascismo. Lo scopo e quello di fornire la conoscenza, nel campo marittimo, quale sia stato alla nostra ultima guerra il contributo dei mezzi d’assalto della X Flottiglia MAS della Regia Marina nel corso della seconda guerra mondiale. In una trasmissione televisiva, ad una richiesta del conduttore, un famoso giornalista, che evidentemente stava trattando con grande animosità politica un argomento che non conosceva, esclamò: ”Ma insomma cosa hanno fatto questi della X Mas”, nessuno  degli “esperti”, che partecipavano alla trasmissione sull’argomento, considerato fascista e quindi trattato con disgusto, ha saputo rispondergli. Si sono solo tutti guardati in faccia tacendo! Il motivo di tanto livore nei confronti della X Flottiglia Mas, deriva dal fatto che quasi tutti i suoi componenti dopo l’8 settembre 1943 erano rimasti nell’Italia settentrionale, in particolare a La Spezia, e che per un loro ideale del rispetto dell’alleanza con la Germania oppure,. Avendo famiglia, per necessita finanziaria, avevano accettato di far parte, nella medesima specialità dei mezzi d’assalto, nelle file della Marina della Repubblica Sociale Italiana.

Abstract: Ropotamo is a multi-period archaeological site located on the southern Bulgarian Black Sea coast, in a small bay where the Ropotamo River flows into the sea. Due to the unique natural habitat, the site has preserved the stratigraphy left by millennia of human activity in the bay. In
2017, underwater excavations were launched as part of the international Black Sea Maritime
Archaeology Project (Black Sea MAP). Over the following seasons to 2020, four trenches were
excavated. Documentation was primarily done with a multi-camera rig for high-resolution digital photogrammetry, and interdisciplinary analyses were carried out. At depths between 1.5 and 2.0 m below seabed, artefacts from the Early Bronze Age were discovered: pottery, flint, stone,
bone tools and wooden piles of structures. Detailed analysis of the stratigraphy shows that when the sea level was c. 6 m lower than the present one, a pile-dwelling settlement was established.
The structures were raised on posts near or on a calm freshwater environment such as a river or a lagoon. Radiocarbon dates the site to the very end of the fourth millennium BC. The settlement’s inhabitants relied more on hunting than husbandry and were forced to make repairs as the sea level rose, until they eventually abandoned the site.

Regional or international trade has always played a central role in the history of Georgia. Trade routes made it possible to establish close political, cultural and economic relations with neighboring as well as distant countries. The kingdom of Georgia’s territorial expansion towards Arran, Shirvan, and Armenia in the 11th-13th centuries was largely driven by economic and trade reasons, namely the desire to control the regional trade routes which criss-crossed Dvin, Barda, Ganja, Tbilisi, Ani, Trebizond, Ahlat, Tabriz and many other major cities along Georgia’s southern borders. The present article will also pay attention to the changes to the trade routes in the Caucasus region caused by the Mongols and how their invasions changed the kingdom of Georgia’s position in the regional commerce. By mid-13th century new major trade corridors connecting Asia with the Middle East and the Black Sea were geographically distanced from Georgia harming the latter’s geopolitical position in the region.

Regional or international trade has always played a central role in the history of Georgia. Trade routes made it possible to establish close political, cultural and economic relations with neighboring as well as distant countries. The kingdom of Georgia’s territorial expansion towards Arran, Shirvan, and Armenia in the 11th-13th centuries was largely driven by economic and trade reasons, namely the desire to control the regional trade routes which criss-crossed Dvin, Barda, Ganja, Tbilisi, Ani, Trebizond, Ahlat, Tabriz and many other major cities along Georgia’s southern borders. The present article will also pay attention to the changes to the trade routes in the Caucasus region caused by the Mongols and how their invasions changed the kingdom of Georgia’s position in the regional commerce. By mid-13th century new major trade corridors connecting Asia with the Middle East and the Black Sea were geographically distanced from Georgia harming the latter’s geopolitical position in the region.

This chapter examines the interdependent social, economic, cultural, technological and environmental aspects of fishing within the archaeological context of Cyprus. Through this examination, it is possible to understand the human utilisation of maritime space and the relationship between fishers and their maritime cultural landscape on the island of Cyprus from the Neolithic to the Early Christian periods (tenth millennium BC–mid-seventh century AD).
Heretofore, fishing in Cyprus has been neglected from an archaeological perspective. Consequently, the research presented here studies the archaeological evidence of fishing gear with the fishbone assemblages and the iconographic and written sources to determine the establishment
and development of fishing in Cyprus diachronically. Environmental and ethnographic data are used to examine how the island’s topography and physical Mediterranean environment determine the presence or absence of fishing within its maritime landscape. Through this study, an attempt to recover the mental maps of fishers is conducted by trying to reveal fishers’ choices of specific fishing grounds, gear and/or fish species. Consequently, this study attempts to provide a comprehensive understanding of the human daily activity of fishing in Cyprus diachronically. Subsequently, it contributes to understanding the life of fishing communities in Cyprus through maritime archaeology.

De zeventiende eeuw was meer dan alle andere perioden in de Nederlandse geschiedenis een maritieme eeuw. De vlaggenschepen van beroemde admiraals en de overzeese ondernemingen van de handelscompagnieën bepaalden lange tijd het beeld. Maar ook de Europese internationale handel werd gedomineerd door Nederlandse vrachtschepen en het binnenlandse netwerk van trekschuiten en beurtvaarders was uniek binnen ons continent. Samen vormden deze vertakkingen van de scheepvaart de levensader van de verstedelijkte samenleving.

Niet alle schepen keerden terug in veilige haven. Verspreid over de wereldzeeën zijn vele Nederlandse wrakken uit deze tijd gevonden, vol met verhalen. Dit spectaculaire en kwetsbare erfgoed biedt ons op grote diepte toegang tot een verleden dat nog veel aspecten niet heeft blootgegeven. Van pronkbekers, porselein, peper, kanonnen en kruiken tot een kist vol eieren, een ton gevuld met tin, zalfpotten en zilveren munten – de eeuwenlang onaangeroerde voorwerpen geven een beeld van het leven in deze periode.

Wrakken in wereldzeeën toont de zeventiende-eeuwse Nederlandse scheepsvaart in al haar facetten, aan de hand van schepen die vergingen van vlak voor Texel tot aan de westkust van Australië. Spiegelretourschepen van de VOC, een beurtschip op de Zuiderzee, een oorlogsfregat van de Admiraliteit, intacte ‘spookschepen’ op de bodem van de Oostzee en een Straatvaarder vol stoffen schatten – alle wrakken vormen tijdscapsules die samen het verhaal van een eeuw aan de oppervlakte brengen.

https://www.matrijs.com/Wrakken-in-wereldzeeen.-Vergane-Nederlandse-schepen-uit-de-zeventiende-eeuw.html

Christianity has long been associated with water: it acts as a natural barrier in Moses’ story, it is a means of spiritual cleansing used by John the Baptist and it is connected to parables and miracles attributed to Jesus and various saints. Water and water-related activities such as fishing and seafaring have been purposefully adopted into faith, spiritual practices and remembrance. Moreover, marine vessels, which have been an important means of transport for Mediterranean civilisations since prehistory, were included in Christian practices in a variety of ways, not just as symbols of saints but also as part of rituals.

This chapter presents a preliminary study of the connection between Christian saints and maritime material culture. The focus is examples from early Christianity, especially Greek Orthodox Christianity, as developed in the eastern Mediterranean during the Mediaeval period and thereafter. The first part of the study assesses written sources associated with saints of the sea such as Nicholas of Myra and Phocas the Gardener. The second section discusses how art and material culture—mainly icons and frescoes, religious works of art—relate to narratives of the saints’ lives, associated miracles, local beliefs and spiritual practices. Icons are devotional paintings of Christ or other holy figures typically executed on wood and used ceremonially in the Byzantine and other Eastern Churches, while frescoes are religious murals painted on walls.

Thus, the main purpose of this chapter is to present matters of faith and materiality in maritime context, as expressed through textual evidence and material artefacts from Eastern and Greek Orthodox Christianity. It is hoped this preliminary study will reveal new insights into and connections between maritime material culture, the sea itself and the artefacts, symbols, monumental art, votives and rituals which have been used by Christian maritime communities for over two millennia.

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 License. It is free to read, download and share on the BAR Digital platform here

Delivering the Deep: Maritime archaeology for the 21st century, originated from work presented at IKUWA 7 conference in Helsinki, and offers a comprehensive look at state-of-the-art research being undertaken by maritime scholars. A curated series of essays reviews change in the discipline over the past 50 years and highlights current trends. The wide range of themes presented underscores the changing nature of maritime archaeology, which has expanded from an initial focus on underwater archaeology and nautical technology to become a dynamic, interdisciplinary field encompassing all tangible and intangible elements of culture related to human activities on, in and around aquatic environments. Themes connected to theoretical frameworks, especially those focusing on maritime cultural landscapes, have increased in popularity, a sign of growth in theoretical insights and maturing research. This paves the way for a more nuanced understanding of past societies, their behaviours, technologies, economies, beliefs, and interactions with watery environments.