Shipwreck Ecology: A New Paradigm for the Analysis of the Formation of Maritime Archaeological Landscapes

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "The Ecology of Underwater Cultural Heritage: From Microbial Communities to Macrofauna", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Shipwreck ecology can be defined as the effective interaction between ships and shipwrecks and marine organisms within the environmental contexts in which they are located. Locally controlled site formation processes by which all shipwrecks deteriorate are coupled with recruitment of microorganisms, benthic invertebrates and fish, community succession, and anthropogenic disturbances. Shipwreck ecology is therefore intrinsically tied to the physical and cultural maritime landscape. This paper proposes a new paradigm for the analysis of the formation of maritime archaeological landscapes, incorporating vessels from launch to shipwreck to archaeological site. It centers recent, interdisciplinary research within a cohesive framework that promotes development of questions and hypotheses that can only be addressed by integrating archaeology and ecology.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2025   •
• The Ecology of Underwater Cultural Heritage: From Microbial Communities to Macrofauna

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow