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A Maritime Archaeology Database of Portugal

Filipe Castro • January 2026

Portugal has an old and diverse seafaring tradition and a unique shipbuilding tradition. Situated on the nexus of two maritime worlds, the Atlantic/Baltic, and the Mediterranean traditions, Portugal developed a plethora of unique ships and boats, and the large oceangoing vessels that allowed the establishment of the India Route, the longest commercial route of its time during the early 16th century. These ships and boats have not been systematically inventoried and studied, however, despite an impressive amount of research developed by historians, ethnographers and archaeologists.

This project consists of the development of a computer-based ontology to connect isolated bodies of data and share all the information available with the international community of maritime historians, ethnographers, and archaeologists. It is a development of the Nautical Archaeology Digital Library (NADL – NSF Grant IIS-0534314), a community of scholars that we have created and developed at Texas A&M University, which included a team of colleagues and students, since 2006.

Development

This project is intended as an inventory of known underwater sites in Portuguese waters. The end product is a computer-based ontology that helps users to connect isolated bodies of data and share the information available. This first phase is a GIS-based database with references to underwater sites that have been declared by divers, fishermen, and other stakeholders of the sea.

A national database of the underwater cultural heritage of any country is, by definition, a work in progress. Our's is being built from the bottom up. The official national database (Endovélico) is the result of a long process that started in the 1980s as an effort of a group of interested citizens.

The main objective of this project is to make data available and try to create a public interest on the underwater cultural heritage of Portugal. We hope that this project may be used as a learning environment where a wide range of stakeholders can ask questions and find answers, discuss interpretations, and participate in the making of this archive.

Outreach

Although municipalities have no jurisdiction over the waters along their coast, we are organizing the territory along Municipalities and Capitanias, the maritime authorities. The main reason is that we would like to involve the populations as much as possible in the study and protection of the cultural heritage, and try to engage local museums and schools in our effort.

We have already established working relations with several municipalities, such as Esposende, Vila do Conde, Alcacer do Sal, or Lagos. Moreover, we want to work with groups of divers and help them develop scholarly projects that promote the strategic importance of Portugal's submerged cultural heritage.

References

  • Demilio, C., Castro, F., 2025. "Digital Archaeology Underwater: Ethical, Epistemic and Climate Challenges for a Collaborative Future." Heritage, 8, 383.
  • Castro, F., 2025. "An Inventory for the Portuguese Submerged Cultural Heritage," Journal of Maritime Archaeology.
  • Castro, F., Bita, C., Pissarra, J., Frabetti, B., 2024. "Portuguese India Route Ships," Journal of Maritime Archaeology.
  • Castro, F., and Medina, S., 2022. "Shipwrecks and Storytelling," Heritage, 5.4: 3397-3410.
  • Castro, F., 2022. "Carta Arqueológica Subaquática de Portugal," Almadan (online) 25.2: 9-17.
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