Maritime Landscapes and Structures
Ships sailed on landscapes. Their operations invariably start and end on a harbor, quay, pier, jetty, dock, or anchorage. Only their loss sometimes occurred on the sea, away from land, or on some inhospitable stretch of coast.
The data collected and analyzed under the label landscapes pertain to both the environments and the populations that inhabited them. We are interested in the history of the lands our ships touched, their populations, their cultures, their subsistence patterns, their ecological singularities, and all the human activities that impacted the construction, operation and loss of ships.
Our main focus is to discuss ways in which these data can be shared and used as thinking tools that explain the past and the present, and help us imagine the future.
Our questions are the main questions of Anthropology: Who are we? Where do we come from? Where are we going? What can we know?
Landscape Projects
Africa
Underwater Archaeology in Algeria
An overview of underwater archaeological research in Algeria, from the first scientific explorations in 1968 to recent developments.
Rafik Khellaf
Rocher Blanc Project
Archaeological surveys of the Rocher Blanc site in Cherchell, Algeria, revealing iron guns and historical maritime heritage.
Rafik Khellaf, Nazim Bensalah, et al.
Americas
Anthropocene and Climate Change
Evidence of hyperobjects in the archaeological record of two colonial contexts in Tierrabomba Island, Cartagena de Indias.
Carlos Del Cairo, Carla Riera, Gabriela Caro, et al.
Antigua Maritime Landscape
The rise of the British Empire in the Caribbean and archaeological research at Antigua's trade towns.
Arik Bord
Colaboratorio Azul
Effects of climate change on the maritime cultural heritage of Cartagena de Indias, Colombia.
Carlos Del Cairo, Mariana Carulla, Carla Riera, et al.
Colombia's Liquid Landscapes
Archaeological approaches to nautical contexts in Colombia, exploring Caribbean and Pacific maritime heritage.
Territorios Líquidos Research Group
Comunidad Wayuu
Traditional navigation and artisanal shipbuilding of the Wayuu community in the Colombian Guajira.
Juan David Sarmiento Rodríguez
The Ships from Mulatos, Colombia
Traditional shipbuilding and the Culimocho vessels of the Colombian Pacific coast.
Rene Estupiñan
The Culimochos
The traditional watercraft and shipbuilding traditions of the Mulatos community in Colombia.
Rene Estupiñan
Nautical Archaeology in Ecuador
The state of underwater archaeology in Ecuador, including notable shipwrecks and the Galápagos Islands.
Juan Jijón
ImagineRio, Brazil
A digital atlas of Rio de Janeiro's urban and maritime history.
Farès el-Dahdah, Alida C. Metcalf
Puerto Rico
Maritime archaeology and the early history of Puerto Rico from the 16th to 18th centuries.
NADL Team
S. Lourenço do Sul, Brazil
Policies of memory and heritage among German-Pomeranians in southern Brazil.
Samila P. Ferreira
Asia
China
Maritime heritage research in China, including the Spencer and Wells ship model collections.
Centre for Maritime History, Dalian Maritime University
Underwater Archaeology in Iran
Iran's 5,000 km of shoreline, Persian maritime history, and Proto-Elamite watercraft research.
Sorna Khakzad, Shadi Kalantar
Sharjah Survey 2018
Underwater archaeology survey in Sharjah, UAE using AUVs, magnetometry, and archaeological diving.
Filipe Castro, et al.
Sri Lanka
2,500 years of maritime civilization, including the Godawaya shipwreck and the Maritime Archaeology Unit.
Maritime Archaeology Unit, Sri Lanka
Stone Anchors of the Persian Gulf
Stone anchors along the northern shoreline of the Persian Gulf in Bushehr and Hormozgan provinces.
Sorna Khakzad, Mojtaba Moosaie
Europe
A Dive in History, Portugal
Underwater archaeological research along Portugal's Alentejo coast, including the Sines Bay discoveries.
Filipe Castro, Alexandre Monteiro, Sónia Bombico, Miguel Martins
Esposende, Portugal
Archaeological heritage of Esposende at the mouth of the Cávado River, from prehistory to the early modern period.
NADL Team
Finisterre, Spain
The 1596 Armada disaster and the Finisterre Shipwreck Survey project.
INA, Texas A&M University, Regional Government of Galicia
Islas Canarias, Spain
Maritime heritage of the Canary Islands, from early navigation to underwater cultural heritage.
NADL Team
Islas Canarias – Early Diving
Pioneer divers and the early history of diving in the Canary Islands.
NADL Team
Santarém, Portugal
A fluvial and maritime landscape on the River Tagus, spanning 28 centuries of history.
Filipe Castro, Clara Brito, Rui Falcão de Campos, Miguel Soares Lopes
Vila do Conde, Portugal
A harbor for the world - the maritime history of Vila do Conde.
Pedro Brochado de Almeida, José Carlos Samuel