Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating. A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating. A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating. A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Abstract: Westerdahl’s Maritime Cultural Landscape (MCL) framework is applied to reconstruct a portion of the nineteenth-century MCL of Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. This study integrates seafarers' accounts, shipwreck data, hydrographic records, and environmental analyses to examine four key dimensions: maritime cultural areas, sea routes, shipwrecks, and the British Hydrographic Survey of 1854, which is newly documented in this study. Archival research documents 15 shipwrecks and analyzes historical data related to the potential wreck site of HMS Raposa. Findings suggest that environmental hazards, rather than hurricanes, were the primary causes of shipwrecks in the region. This research advances historical and archaeological interpretations of the Caribbean MCL while aligning with the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 13 and 14). PubDate: 2025-04-28
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Abstract: Indonesia, an archipelago renowned for its rich and diverse maritime history, boasts many underwater cultural heritage (UCH) sites that chronicle centuries of seafaring, trade routes, and cultural interactions. These submerged artifacts and historic shipwrecks provide invaluable insights into the nation’s historical narrative and global maritime significance. In a strategic move to enhance the protection of its UCH, Indonesia should consider ratifying the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage, committing to the establishment of comprehensive legal, operational, and preservation frameworks. Despite this progressive step, Indonesia faces considerable challenges in the effective implementation of the convention. Key issues include aligning domestic legislation with international standards, the fragmented coordination among government agencies, and limited enforcement capabilities to prevent unauthorized salvaging and looting. Additionally, technological and financial constraints hinder the documentation and preservation efforts, while public awareness and local community engagement in heritage conservation remains underdeveloped. Existing research often emphasizes the importance of UCH but lacks an in-depth analysis of the resource constraints faced in implementing such international agreements. This study aims to bridge this research gap by exploring Indonesia’s unique challenges and identifying opportunities for advancing UCH protection. This study aims to provide strategic recommendations that support sustainable conservation efforts by evaluating legislative frameworks, examining institutional practices, and incorporating stakeholder perspectives in Indonesia. The findings will advocate for stronger collaboration between governmental bodies, local communities, and international partners to preserve Indonesia’s underwater cultural legacy for future generations. PubDate: 2025-04-21
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Abstract: Portugal does not have a functioning database of the underwater cultural heritage and this paper is about an effort to develop one that is a research tool, a cultural asset to be shared with the public, and a management tool that may help the government agencies in charge of the cultural heritage to plan, make diagnostics, prognostics, and plan actions of study, protection, and publication of this important part of the country’s cultural heritage. PubDate: 2025-04-16
Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating. A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating. A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Abstract: Low water in the Chestatee River, near Dahlonega, Georgia, revealed the long-forgotten, sunken remains of a wooden barge and a cast and wrought iron structure that proved to be an 1869 version of a pre-war patent of a “diving bell” first introduced in New York, Dublin and London in the 1840s and modified in the late 1850s and during the American Civil War by French-born American engineer Benjamin Maillefert and other inventors. Bells of this type were a unique aspect of underwater exploration, exploitation, and underwater construction in the decades before and the decades after the American Civil War and an evolutionary step in the development of both submersibles and caissons. Ultimately, these bells proved to be a costly, labor-intensive “dead end” in the evolutionary chain of submersibles. The Chestatee River Diving Bell, also known as the Dahlonega Diving Bell, is the only known surviving American example of this type. Its history as a specifically utilized craft connects it to early efforts to clear harbors of obstructions, salvage shipwrecks, and in the harvesting of placer gold from riverbeds. In its specific use, the Chestatee River diving bell is a unique reminder of the Georgia gold rush and its long-lived aftermath and the application and misapplication of technologies to extract gold. It is also a rare surviving example of both a nineteenth century diving bell and a support craft, but the only known maritime archaeological example of an associated bell and the craft used to deploy that bell. PubDate: 2025-04-14
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Abstract: An ideal model of seafaring simulates realistic human decision-making and behavioural patterns to help researchers understand the way past communities functioned within a maritime context. Seafaring involves inherent risk, potential for environmental disaster, and opportunities to demonstrate resilience. Understanding what risks ancient seafarers faced and how they behaved in the face of disaster provides an important lens through which researchers can understand the breadth of human response to environmental disaster, decision-making in the past, and the social ideologies of the societies they study. Computational models are often insufficient to capture the complexities of these junctures in human history. Our assumptions about modern human behaviour and what constitutes a “default” mode (which is often Western or Euro-centric) form input parameters and affect model output. Additionally, the spatiotemporal resolution of climate models often makes the simulation of discrete environmental events challenging. Because disaster, risk, and resilience are poorly realized in computational models, considering past human response, decision-making, and ideologies can improve not only our understanding of past societies but also how we develop models. In this article, we discuss questions and challenges regarding disaster, risk, and resilience that we face in our collective body of work, which spans a diverse temporal and geographical range. We aim to ignite conversations about the role of these experiences in archaeological models and to challenge the status quo to improve the study of past maritime communities. The following questions and their collaborative responses exhibit the candid discussions that the CAST community has facilitated and participated in about how to manage the challenges and opportunities presented by disaster, risk, and resilience in seafaring research. PubDate: 2025-04-11
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Abstract: The archaeological findings from the Nanhai No. 1 shipwreck have provided substantial evidence for examining the dietary practices of maritime crew in the Song Dynasty. These findings reveal the complexity and variety of their daily lives. In addition to carrying essential freshwater, the crew also transported a diverse range of alcoholic beverages. These beverages were intended to boost morale and alleviate the monotony of sea voyages. Furthermore, the plant remains discovered on Nanhai No. 1 emphasize the crew’s meticulous selection of staple foods and highlight the intricacies of ancient maritime existence. The predominance of sheep over pigs on the ship can be attributed to two main factors. On the one hand, maritime trade practices during the Song Dynasty prioritized both sheep meat and pork as important sources of protein. On the other hand, the presence of Arabs on board necessitated dietary adjustments, which probably contributed to the higher number of sheep. This phenomenon also reflects the adaptability of the Song Dynasty crew in catering to diverse dietary needs, demonstrating a flexible and pragmatic approach to food consumption at sea. The diverse food remains found on the shipwreck not only validate numerous historical accounts but also vividly depicting the daily life of ancient seafarers. This provides new opportunities for reconstructing and recounting the social history of maritime communities. PubDate: 2025-04-08
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Abstract: The set of inscriptions known as the Naval Inventories of Athens (IG II2 1604–IG II2 1632) provide a wealth of information regarding the state of the Athenian navy in the fourth century BC. The inscriptions include the names of the triremes, of which 279 unique cases are preserved. This paper was developed around two questions: What kinds of names did Athenians choose for their warships' And is naming triremes a practice that goes beyond the practicality of keeping track of each ship' Firstly, the historical background is presented, followed by an investigation of triremes, both in technical characteristics and in the people comprising the crew. Furthermore, the triremes are described as complicated expressions of the society that built and used them, and hence, they are used as objects which lay the theoretical framework of this study. The names are presented in separated categories, resolving the first research question of this paper. Theories of psychology and sociology are employed, which helps to explain why naming warships is a tactic to enhance group cohesiveness. Sailors identify with the virtues and qualities of the ‘personified’ trireme, subconsciously developing their sense of belonging, improving their morale, confidence, and presumably overall performance, while fighting the world’s toughest frontier. PubDate: 2025-03-31
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Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating. A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Abstract: The SS Waratah was lost with all 211 lives circa 27 July 1909 off the South African eastern coast, for reasons unknown, and the wreck has not been found despite numerous searches at the time and into the present. The purpose of this paper is to identify possible sinking locations based on the interaction of meteorological fronts, Agulhas current, and bathymetric features. The route of the ship is reconstructed from historical documents, and the account of the following ship Clan Macintyre, using haversines. The analysis shows that the Waratah met the storm on the edge of the continental shelf of Algoa Bay. Multiple simulations were conducted to explore parameter variability, and the meeting location shifts accordingly, bracketing an area of 40 nm by 10 nm (nm). It is proposed that the ship sank on meeting a rogue wave in the storm, or shortly afterwards, at the continental shelf break, possibly near the head of a submarine canyon. Two locations stand out for meeting these criteria and these are 34.3482oS 26.2627oE, and 34.3942oS 25.9394oE. The work provides a new hypothesis, backed by detailed navigational modelling from the known facts, regarding where and how the ship sank. The novel contribution of this research is the combination of multiple disciplines, such as historical research, principles of maritime engineering, navigational modelling, meteorological phenomena, and oceanographic analysis, to reconstruct the ship's likely route and identify potential shipwreck locations. PubDate: 2025-02-04
Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating. A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating. A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating. A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Abstract: The Zaghemarz shipwreck is the remains of a 28 m long vessel emerged from the sand along the southern coasts of the Caspian Sea, in the Iranian Province of Mazandaran. The shipwreck, located at about 36° 47′0″ N, 53° 17′ 0″ E, emerged from beneath a sand dune north of Zaghemarz Village and was excavated in the course of two seasons. Excavations exposed the entire wooden structure of the hull, including the keel, endposts, framing timbers, hull planks, stringers, bulkheads, and the remains of two masts. Ropes, mats, wooden objects associated with rope ladders, and three baskets containing plant material were also retrieved near the bottom of the ship. Archaeobotanical investigations were conducted on wood samples and plant material stored in the baskets. The results of the wood analysis provided a first list of wood species used in constructing structural and non-structural elements of the vessel. Two main wood species, Scots Pine (Pinus sylvetris type) and Spruce/Larch (Picea/Larix type), were identified in the vessel’s construction. Additionally, a potential tool was made of poplar wood (Populus sp.). The plant material included fruits and seeds of six families, six genera, and five recognisable species, the bulk of which was represented by achenes of Fagopyrum esculentum Moench. The carbon-14 (14C) accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dates obtained from wood samples and short-lived finds were used to model the ship’s construction and wrecking dates. The radiocarbon dating and the available historical records suggest that the ship was constructed between the late eighteenth century and the first half of the nineteenth century and later repaired on multiple occasions. PubDate: 2024-12-16
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Abstract: The Blake Plateau and the adjacent waters and sea beds of the U.S. continental shelf and Blake Ridge are a long-standing water highway, a place of significant events and common marine activities from centuries past to the present. It has scientific significance as well as cultural meaning, especially within the context of the Gullah/Geechee people of the region whose ancestors were brought against their will in the Middle Passage voyages of the transatlantic slave trade. The known location of some deep water shipwrecks, it is the likely site of many others, as well as possessing significant cultural values that make it worthy of consideration as a marine protected area. PubDate: 2024-11-22
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Abstract: A survey for the wreck of the former U.S. Navy destroyer Stewart (DD-224) was conducted during a test of autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) systems in the waters of Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary, off the central California coast of the United States, in August 2024. The wreck of the destroyer was discovered less than 4 miles from its reported sinking position. The intact wreck is an artifact of the period between both world wars, of World War II, and of a career as a warship for both the United States and Japan. The August 2024 archaeological assessment of the wreck confirmed its identity and documented aspects of its modifications following capture by Japanese forces and stripping before its ceremonial “burial” at sea after its repatriation at war’s end, as well as the forensics of its disposal. PubDate: 2024-11-18
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Abstract: The recent discovery of a Portuguese shipwreck in Malindi, Kenya, which could be a galleon from Vasco da Gama’s last voyage, triggered this study of the Portuguese ships of this period. This paper is a short summary of what is known about the ships of the Portuguese expansion into the Indian and Pacific Oceans, between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries. Few Portuguese ships have been found, excavated, and published, and this paper is intended as a critical review of the information available, a summary of what is known about them, and the questions that remain when we try to interpret and reconstruct their remains. PubDate: 2024-11-18
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Hybrid journal (It can contain Open Access articles)
