Reconstructing a Maritime Past

Reconstructing a Maritime Past emphasizes valorizing the Mediterranean Sea to understand the past human relationship with the sea, challenging geo-ethnic labels and proposing a new theoretical framework for maritime archaeological research. It re-interprets submerged sites in the Mediterranean Sea using superimposed polygons to model patterns of maritime activity, generating centennial results at different scales. The book appeals to scholars at various stages of their careers.

Format: Hardback
Length: 232 pages
Publication date: 30 December 2022
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Rewritten text:

Reconstructing a Maritime Past presents an intriguing alternative to geo-ethnic labels in shipwreck identification, emphasizing the valorization of the Mediterranean Sea within maritime cultures. This approach raises new questions and research agendas to understand the past human relationship with the sea. The study is divided into three sections. Chapters 1 and 2 contrast intellectual histories of maritime archaeological interpretive approaches in Northern Europe and the Mediterranean, advocating for the former perspective as a more suitable theoretical framework for future research. Chapters 3 to 5 re-interpret the corpus of submerged sites in the Mediterranean Sea through this lens, arguing that they represent the practices of a maritime culture rather than specific identities like Phoenician, Muslim, or Byzantine seafaring. The authors employ a method of superimposed polygons to model patterns of maritime activity, generating centennial results at different scales. Chapter 6 compares these models to other datasets, questioning the relevance of textual media in understanding maritime activity and finding closer analogues with other archaeological corpora. By deconstructing interpretive methods in maritime archaeology, offering a new synthesizing interpretive approach that is scalable and decoupled from past perceptions, and critically examining the applicability of various media to illuminate the past maritime experience, this book appeals to scholars at various stages of their careers.

Weight: 596g
Dimension: 159 x 243 x 20 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780367635299