Coastal and Port Cities: Maritime Archaeology on Land and Underwater
Part of: Society for Historical Archaeology 2014
Maritime archaeology as a discipline transcends the frontiers between terrestrial and underwater environments. The maritime character of a society and its material culture expression are determined by a necessary land-water opposition, well expressed within coastal and port cities. This session will welcome contributions about harbour and port archaeology, both on land and under the water, to illustrate how land and sea are inevitably interconnected. The papers will focus more specifically on how harbours developped within specific city contexts, and how in return the city plans were also shaped by maritime activities and infrastructures.
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- Documents (11)
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Against All Odds: The British Siege and the Spanish Defense of Cartagena in 1741 and the Interpretation of Spanish Shipwrecks (2014)
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In 1741, British Admiral Edwin Vernon attempted to sack the Spanish colonial town of Cartagena de Indias. Though outmanned and under-gunned, the fragile defensive network established by Blas de Lezo held, thwarting the English attempts. This defensive network is now one aspect of the larger Sunken Ships of Cartagena Project. In 2012 and 2013, marine archaeologists and researchers from the Universidad del Norte en Barranquilla, Texas State University, volunteers from federal institutions, the...
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Archaeological excavations in the Harbour of Grønnegaard, Copenhagen: Examples of quays, careening wharf, slipway, crane, and the reuse of scuttled ship-hulls in 17th & 18th century (2014)
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The aim of the paper is to present and discuss the archaeological finds from the B&W site in Copenhagen, which was excavated in 1996-1997. The site unveiled the archaeological remains of 8 ships and boats, dating from the period 1580-1650, as well as numerous remains of harbor installations, ranging in date from the end of the 16th century till the 20th century. The B&W site is part of the former harbour of Grønnegaard, which is the oldest historically known harbour reserved for wintering...
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Archaeology of Oostenburg. The Amsterdam harbour extension of 1660 and the VOC ship yard (2014)
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In the 1660s the city of Amsterdam witnessed the completion of a process of systematic urban extension which started 50 years earlier. This led to the creation of the characteristic highly renaissance conceived semicircular city plan. This comprised a wealthy residential area concentrated along the belt of canals with a middle class housing and labour quarter and fortification around it. The major feature of the 1660 extension was the creation of three large scale harbour islands along the...
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Charles Aubert sites and the ports of Québec during the XVIIth century (2014)
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Québec remained the only port city of Canada open to ocean navigation during the XVIIth century. From its foundation in 1608, access to the city was performed through beaching sites distributed on both East and North sides. The Lower Town development was partly influenced by these landing sites and the properties belonging to Charles Aubert de la Chesnaye built near the eastern and northern shorelines were integral components of this process. Archaeological and historical data from these sites...
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The history of La Charité-sur-Loire bridges (France, Burgundy and Centre Regions), from the 18th to the 20th century (2014)
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Between La Charité-sur-Loire and La Chapelle-Montlinard, the Loire River split in two channels forming an island. Looking at the bridges used through time to cross the river at this location, one can determine different stages of construction and destruction. This paper provides a reconstruction of the bridges history over eight centuries based on underwater archeology, building archeology, geoarchaeology data, as well as archival data (text, maps). A first wooden bridge, built in the 13th...
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Maritime Archaeology at Gdan’sk urban sites (2014)
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Gda’sk, Poland was the biggest south Baltic port during the post medieval period. Inland excavation bringing remains of port life including shipyards areas and boats buried in old mouths. Except those obvious categories connected with maritime archaeology there are many items connected with sea life. In these paper there will be shortly introduced research status of three shipyard sites located at st. Lastadia, st. Walowa/Old Shipyard and Shipyard Square. Examples of boats found in mouth of...
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Port Archaeology - Medieval and Post-Medieval Harbours in the Loire and Seine Estuaries, France. Sites condemned by canal works but still accessible (2014)
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Cette présentation fait état de 10 ans de recherches (2003-2012) effectuées dans les estuaires de deux grands fleuves français (Seine et Loire), des espaces nautiques souvent considérés comme hostiles par les archéologues. Pendant longtemps, toute forme d’archéologie portuaire fut rejetée, pour cause d’idées préconçues. Les anciens ports estuariens de l’ouest de la France n’intéressaient pas ou peu dans la mesure où l’on pensait qu’ils avaient été éradiqués par la mise en place au cours du XXe...
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Preliminary Report of a Maritime Archaeological Survey at Sandy Point, St. Kitts, British West Indies (2014)
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From the 17th through the mid-19th centuries, England defended the town of Sandy Point at the northwestern end of St. Kitts from seizure by rival nations. As one of the earliest English settlements in the Caribbean and a major trading center for European goods, enslaved Africans and island produce, Sandy Point was protected by fortifications at Brimstone Hill and Charles Fort. Responding to assaults by the French, British construction at Sandy Point continued between 1672 and 1732, creating ‘the...
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Social Stratification in Bangka waters’ Lighthouses (2014)
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Lighthouse is a complex of several buildings and it guarded by officers. Buildings which are contained in the lighthouse complex are the lighthouse, engine room, warehouse, dwelling and freshwater sources. In marine navigation, lighthouses serve as signs to mark the condition of the waters. Chronologically lighthouses in the Bangka waters were built on the late 19th century AD. In a lighthouse there is a community that is in charge of managing the lighthouse, they are living in the lighthouse...
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Urban development and transformation on Amsterdam’s waterfront, 1590-1900 (2014)
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In the 1590s Amsterdam’s eastern soggy foreland stretching from the sea dike and the open water of the IJ harbour was transformed into islands, designated for shipbuilding. Here both private shipyards and these of the Admiralty and Dutch East India Company (VOC) operated, until the maritime quarter shifted to new raised islands of the city extension of 1663. Subsequently the old islands transformed into a living area that gradually turned into densely populated neighbourhoods with slums on...
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What Lies Beneath the Seaweed: Searching for Submerged Remains of an Attempted 1604-1605 French Settlement at St. Croix Island International Historic Site (2014)
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Between Maine in the U.S. and New Brunswick, Canada flows the St. Croix River into the Bay of Fundy and Atlantic Ocean. Its significance as a river border for the U.S. and Canada is far exceeded by its historical significance and role in the eventual founding of more permanent French settlements. With the abundance of resources favored by the French explorers in the early 17th century, the St. Croix River provided an attractive setting for an oft forgotten attempted settlement on a small island...