Superstition, Ritual, and Religion Among Ancient and Early Modern Seafarers

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Current Research in Maritime Archaeology" session, at the 2019 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Seafarers have long been associated with ritual and superstition.  Maritime ritual in Antiquity was often rooted in religion, as sailors for instance offered libations to the gods for a safe voyage.  In the early modern period, however, seafaring cultural practices were characterized as superstitious, and the ritualized activities on board often had ostensibly "pagan" roots, even though many cultural practices also had connections to socially accepted religious beliefs.  This paper presents a preliminary exploration into the difference between superstition and ritual on board vessels by using examples from both Antiquity and the early modern period.  By analyzing the juxtaposition between socially accepted ritual practices and secular superstitions, the importance and relevance of ritualistic coping mechanisms for mariners will be explored, and the development of nautical superstition analyzed. 

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2019   •
• Current Research in Maritime Archaeology

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 452