Mediterranean Maritime Archaeology

The paper on Mediterranean Maritime Archaeology is designed to provide and overview of the rich maritime heritage of the Mediterranean basin up to Late Antiquity and to demonstrate the latest theoretical, methodological and technical developments in the field. The paper on Mediterranean Maritime Archaeology includes 18 lectures spread over two terms complimented by a set of eight tutorials.

The first part of the course examines the historical development of seafaring within the communities of the Mediterranean basin and their near neighbours. The lectures will identify the main trends in the technological development of both military and merchant naval architecture both at sea and on land. They will also examine the changing attitudes of Mediterranean communities through the development of larger political units and increasing international trade and exchange. The nature of the archaeological, textual and iconographic evidence will be discussed in order to understand issues such as the lack of warships in the archaeological record and the apparent collapse of trade after the 2nd century AD as seen by the evidence of wrecked merchant ships.

The purpose of the second part of the course is to provide an up-to-date overview of the current methods and theory in maritime archaeology and its allied sub-disciplines of maritime history and anthropology. It will also highlight the importance of contemporary issues in maritime archaeology such as the requirement for a robust legislative framework for the management and protection of submerged sites, the problems with treasure hunting and the necessity to document the fast disappearing traditional lifeways of maritime communities. The course will draw widely for its examples of best practise and consequently includes case studies of work from the ancient world of the Mediterranean as well as the medieval and modern periods where appropriate. (Convenor: D. Robinson, Centre for Maritime Archaeology)