Maritime Heritage Research Articles

Challenges of Managing Maritime Cultural Heritage in Asia in the Face of Climate Change

Changing weather patterns, increasing frequency and intensity of natural hazards, and rising sea levels associated with global climate change have the potential to threaten cultural heritage sites worldwide. This is especially the case for maritime heritage sites located in the low-lying coastal and delta regions of Asia. Maritime heritage can reflect both highly localized cultural products based on the coupling of people and maritime environments and the historic footprints of complex maritime networks that connect people, ideas, and material over vast distances, creating unique cultural spheres. Furthermore, maritime heritage sites potentially serve as or contain records of how past societies have been impacted by and adapted to past environmental stress. Therefore, their degradation threatens local/regional/global cultural patrimony as well as evidence of human resilience and fragility in the face of environmental change. This makes a strong case for urgent preservation. However, the possible damage caused by climate change and the scale of vulnerable maritime heritage pose seemingly insurmountable challenges. In this paper, we present the ways in which maritime heritage sites across Asia are vulnerable to environmental stresses, such as changing sea levels, coastal erosion, flooding, and storm surges. Our objective is to draw upon our experience documenting endangered cultural heritage across South and Southeast Asia to illustrate that there are unique conceptual and practical characteristics of maritime heritage that complicate effective management and conservation efforts on the scale required to prevent massive loss by climate change. We conclude by stressing the need to reconceptualize debates about the custody and stewardship of maritime heritage and the urgency of employing a wide range of innovative preservation solutions to ensure maritime patrimony is not lost to the rising tides.

Continuing Connection

The historical relationships between Makassans and Aboriginal people that took place as early as the 17th century until the early 20th century through the trepang industry in the northern coast, North Australia, is still unknown to many people in Makassar, South Sulawesi. There are various factors involved in the lack of information about the shared history, including the absence of the story of trepangers as part of Indonesian maritime heritage history in school textbooks and the insufficient materials and narratives on this topic in provincial and city museums. This paper examines the potential roles of Makassan artists and cultural activists to tell the story after engaging with ancient trepang industry-related cultural and art projects. It also investigates their changed perceptions about Australia and Indonesia both culturally and historically after their participation in art and cultural projects.

A Maritime Heritage Structuring the Urban Dynamics of the City: Cross-Examination of the Port of Annaba

A Maritime Heritage Structuring the Urban Dynamics of the City: Cross-Examination of the Port of Annaba

Ephemeral Heritage: Boats, Migration, and the Central Mediterranean Passage

The central Mediterranean today marks one of the most active and dangerous routes for sea crossings to Europe, due in no small part to border regimes designed to prevent the mobilities that have defined these waters from earliest antiquity. This article considers initial results of fieldwork undertaken to document and make visible the material culture of contemporary vessels used to carry forced and undocumented migrants to southeast Sicily over the past decade. These former fishing craft reveal structural and spatial adaptations to facilitate a different traffic, reflected also in items left behind when the boats were intercepted. Archaeology helps to embed these journeys within long-term frameworks of connectivity and to situate their ephemeral traces alongside more traditional notions of Mediterranean maritime heritage. In a region that celebrates its deep connections to the sea, care for the materiality of these contemporary mobilities foregrounds human experiences, while serving goals of advocacy, empowerment, and social justice amid global change.1

Coastal heritage: exploring caves and associated indigenous knowledge in the Lanta Bay (Southern Thailand)

This article presents the preliminary results of community-based archaeological and ethnographic research on the maritime heritage landscape along the Lanta Bay involving the Urak Lawoi sea nomads and with a focus on caves and rock art. It documents several newly-discovered rock art sites as well as the relationships local groups entertain, or not, with these caves. By doing so, it wishes to investigate the various social groups direct or indirect involvement in regional network through time: merchants, sea nomads, fishermen, estuarine and inland forest groups, etc. In a matter of fact, until now, research has mostly focused on lowland riverine ports, foreign merchants and to long-distance connections. In comparison, much less attention has been paid to the many other local groups for whom offshore or coastal caves, islands and mangrove forest in estuaries constituted places for resource procurement, homes, landmarks, temporary shelters or ritual places. This project intends aims to document these groups’ contribution of all to maritime history and the landscape heritage.

The hidden landscape: Maritime cultural heritage of the Salas y Gómez and Nazca ridges with implications for conservation on the high seas

The human history of the waters surrounding the Salas y Gómez and Nazca ridges is rich and culturally diverse. This ranges from indigenous cultures who first ventured to this remote region close to a thousand years ago to the period of European colonial exploration, as well as the rise of the modern global economy. Voyaging, fishing, and the transportation of commodities across these remote waters left signs of the human history of exploration and exploitation. A deep understanding of this rich history is critical to effectively managing its marine resources, since natural and cultural resources are intrinsically intertwined in many cultures. While most of the Salas y Gómez and Nazca ridges are located in areas beyond national jurisdiction, there has been recent interest to protect this remote region by governments, intergovernmental organizations, and the scientific community. This study provides a synthesis of the maritime heritage and cultural resources of the Salas y Gómez and Nazca ridges in order to guide future conservation, management, scientific, and public outreach efforts in this region. While uninhabited, several communities have profound connections to these remote waters, particularly communities on the islands of Rapa Nui, Juan Fernández, as well as the Peruvian and Chilean continental coasts. These communities in particular should be appropriately engaged during all development phases of the proposed protected area, as these relationships are critical to not only building interest and support, but also to developing conservation strategies that are socially responsible and equitable. While this review summarizes what we know about the maritime heritage and cultural resources of the Salas y Gómez and Nazca ridges, several knowledge gaps remain. Activities addressing those knowledge gaps should be incorporated in the design and eventual management of the proposed protected area, including research, education and outreach aimed at better understanding and appreciating the cultural significance of the region. The Salas y Gómez and Nazca ridges provide a rare opportunity to protect and study a globally significant area on the high seas, while also providing a window into the profound relationships between people and the sea.

Inter‐country differences in the cultural ecosystem services provided by cockles

Abstract Coastal systems provide many cultural ecosystem services (CES) to humans. Fewer studies have focused solely on CES, while those comparing CES across countries are even rarer. In the case of shellfish, considerable ecosystem services focus has been placed on nutrient remediation, with relatively little on the cultural services provided, despite strong historical, cultural, social and economic links between shellfish and coastal communities. The ecosystem services provided by the common cockle, Cerastoderma edule, have recently been described, yet the cultural benefits from cockles remain mostly unknown. Here, we documented the CES provided by C. edule in five maritime countries along the Atlantic coast of western Europe, classifying evidenced examples of services into an a priori framework. The high‐level classes, adapted from the Millennium Assessment and the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services, were: inspirational, sense of place, spiritual & religious, aesthetic, recreation & ecotourism, cultural heritage and educational. A further 19 sub‐classes were defined. We followed a narrative approach to draw out commonalities and differences among countries using a semi‐quantitative analysis. Examples of CES provided by cockles were found for all classes in most countries. Cockles supply important and diverse cultural benefits to humans across Atlantic Europe, making it an ideal model species to study CES in coastal areas. Most examples were in cultural heritage, highlighting the importance of this class in comparison with classes which typically receive more attention in the literature like recreation or aesthetics. We also found that the cultural associations with cockles differed among countries, including between neighbouring countries that share a strong maritime heritage. The extent to which cultural associations were linked with the present or past also differed among countries, with stronger association with the present in southern countries and with the past in the north. Understanding the wider benefits of cockles could deepen the recognition of this important coastal resource, and contribute to promoting sustainable management practices, through greater engagement with local communities. This study is an important step towards better integration of CES in coastal environments and could be used as a framework to study the CES of other species or ecosystems. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

Hull’s Maritime Industrial Heritage: Sites of Debated Value and Conflicting 21st- Century Port-City Mindsets. Case Analysis and Suggested Learnings

The study of Hull’s curation of industrial maritime heritage in its redundant docklands and nascent cultural initiatives depicts how values, mindsets, and visions concerning the 21st-century port-city importantly differ between urban actors. Typically, non-shareholding stakeholders seek dock preservation as evidence of their contribution to Hull’s growth, while investors favor a simplified and romanticized maritime narrative. The study of the redevelopment of three of Hull’s docks and a recent heritage-led masterplan demonstrates the lack of consensus on the dockland’s role in shaping Hull’s contemporary maritime identity. This is leading to the degradation and erasure of priceless heritage which bore witness to Hull’s maritime-industrial boom, and to a discontented working class whose heritage is dissipating. Therefore, the preservation of Hull’s unique historical identity and fairness to its inhabitants require a mindset based on a consensual compromise that is inclusive of discordant readings of the past and nuanced. Such a mindset would unite previously divided stakeholders by acknowledging the many values of contested heritage sites, thus delivering social consensus ahead of the execution of a shared vision for 21st-century Hull.

People and the Sea: A Values Perspective in the Conservation Management of Maritime Heritage in the Philippines

As demonstrated in archaeology, underwater cultural heritage (UCH) has provided significant contributions towards the understanding of heritage connections across the globe. However, the development of the discipline in the Philippines has also been hampered by confusing legalities, treasure hunting activities, and financial constraints that diminish the influence of its impact and potential reach. More so, the effects of natural hazards, climate change, and other human activities on UCH have not yet been fully documented, making it more susceptible to potential threats and destruction. The COVID-19 pandemic makes archaeological campaigns and monitoring even more difficult. These considerations make Philippine UCH vulnerable and raise questions whether its contribution will still be relevant for the present and future generations. This article provides a status update of underwater archaeological activities and synthesises the challenges of managing UCH in the Philippines in the past 40 years. It outlines the practices, partnerships, and transitions made by various stakeholders in response to the growing discipline and community interest. This article problematises the value ascription of these stakeholders to UCH as seen in conventional arrangements, development of policies, and bureaucratic set-ups. The applicability of the values-led theory and the people-centred management model is examined given the traditional valuing of UCH that is material or fabric-based. The gaps pointed here are opportunities to build a shared stewardship view that connects UCH in the entirety of people and the sea wellbeing.

Four Dugout Canoes in Uruguayan Collections: Our Early Maritime Heritage

Four Dugout Canoes in Uruguayan Collections: Our Early Maritime Heritage

The ‘Ark Re-Imagined’

The ‘Ark Re-Imagined’ is an art project that envisions a Mesopotamian ark based on Iraq’s ancient boat types and vernacular architectural forms. Through exploring and documenting what remains of traditional boatbuilding techniques and related crafts in today’s Iraq, the project breaks new ground in the study of Mesopotamian maritime heritage. Engaging at the intersection between art, cultural heritage, ecology and development, the project’s ‘expeditionary art’ approach seeks tangible means to reconnect with the land and rivers through a palette of making techniques and aesthetic forms that have persisted in the region for many millennia. It holds global relevance through its imaginal engagement with the present situation of systemic crisis and potential transformation, drawing parallels between the current climate emergency and that of the Great Flood, and asking what kinds of knowledge, resources and practices an ark for our times needs to preserve.

Getting to the Heart of the Matter: My 36 Years in the Senate by Carl Levin

Reviewed by: Getting to the Heart of the Matter: My 36 Years in the Senate by Carl Levin Meg Corner Carl Levin. Getting to the Heart of the Matter: My 36 Years in the Senate. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2021. Pp. 392. Illustrations. Hardback: $29.99. In Getting to the Heart of the Matter: My 36 Years in the Senate, Carl Levin looks back on his life as a public servant and his commitment to truth and governmental accountability. As Michigan's longest serving senator, Levin considers his thirty-six years in the US Senate as well as his early life in Detroit. Throughout seventeen thematically arranged chapters, the [End Page 152] themes of service, integrity in government, and commitment to family, community, and country link such topics as environmental protection, military action in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the 2008 financial crisis. With his conversational tone, Levin provides readers an intimate look at various historic moments that defined his career and shaped the past forty years of American political history. When considering his early career as a member of the Detroit City Council, Levin asserts that his opposition to the mismanagement of the housing program of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) proved to be one of his most satisfying moments in politics. Though essentially a project that allowed low-income families to purchase homes through HUD-subsidized loans, monthly payments and upkeep proved too expensive and caused people to default, thus moving ownership of these homes back to HUD. As the federal government refused to secure the upkeep of these buildings, Levin writes that "HUD-owned properties were no different than the properties owned by the slumlords who took advantage of the government-subsidized poor, indifferent to the blight that was killing our neighborhoods." (xiii) By countering HUD and ordering that these blighted buildings be destroyed, Levin maintains that this moment demonstrated his commitment to community well-being and sparked an interest in government effectiveness. Though the book considers various aspects of Levin's political career, readers interested in his influence on Michigan will find his role in protecting the Great Lakes of special significance. Although Levin notes that his work in environmental matters extended beyond the Midwest, his chapter on such ecological causes includes several examples of protecting environmental and historic sites in Michigan. Notably, he describes his role in co-sponsoring the Great Lakes Critical Programs Act of 1990 that regulated pollution, promoted cleanup of toxic waste, and prepared to prevent or contain oil spills. Matching this level of commitment to natural and historic wonders, Levin also discusses his role in establishing the Sleeping Bear Dunes Wilderness (2014) and the Keweenaw National Historic Park (1992), protecting the maritime heritage of Thunder Bay, adding to the River Raisin National Battlefield Park, and improving the North Country Scenic Trail. Throughout Getting to the Heart of the Matter, Levin reflects on a life of service and what it means to be a responsible political figure. Beyond his career-long commitment to working across the political aisle to find the best solutions to a wide array of issues, Levin emphasizes the importance of doing what was best for his constituents in the long term. Despite appearing to vote against what was immediately popular at times, he [End Page 153] maintains that he "saw his responsibility as first needing to seriously study, without arrogance or certainty, an issue with all its complexities, being open to and respecting different views on the subject at hand." (290) In this manner, he demonstrates what he believed to be the most important quality for an elected official: trustworthiness. With such moral courage weaving throughout this work—a notable example being his explanation of not supporting the war in Iraq while previously supporting the war in Afghanistan—it comes highly recommended for those considering a career in public service and students and scholars of political history. Meg Corner Central Michigan University Copyright © 2021 Historical Society of Michigan

Maritime relations between Kollam and the portuguese – A review

India has an ancient and glorious maritime history and tradition in which the Kerala Coast occupied a position of pride from very early days. The coast of Kerala has a rich and long maritime heritage. The geographical situations and economic resources made this country a great trading and maritime power. Kollam is an important trading town with a well set up Port. It had trading relation with Chinese, Arabs and other oriental world. Kollam is an old sea Port town on the Arabian coast had a sustained commercial reputation from the days of Phoenicians and the Romans. The place was famous for trade in cotton, pepper, ginger, cardamom and other articles of merchandize. Moreover plenty of fish, rice, bananas, fruits and pulses available there.The Portuguese were the first Europeans to establish a trading centre at Kollam. The present paper seeks to analyze the maritime intercourse between Kollam and the Portuguese. The arrival of Vasco Da Gama at Calicut in1498 brought Kerala into the arena of international politics. Thangasseri in Kollam is one of the earliest settlements of the Portuguese. Certainly, the impact of the early colonizers on Thangasseri is very deep. It brought about far reaching changes in the socio-cultural and religious map of the city. It is true that the arrival of Portuguese made many socio-economic changes in Kerala. The Portuguese policy of establishing their supremacy cannot be confined to trade alone.

Using social media photos as a proxy to estimate the recreational value of (im)movable heritage: the Rubjerg Knude (Denmark) lighthouse

Purpose On October 2019, the Rubjerg Knude lighthouse (Denmark) was moved 70 metres from the cliff edge. The Danish Government spent €700,000 on the rescue operation. Using the zonal travel cost method (ZTCM), this paper aims to estimate the recreational value of this (im)movable maritime heritage building, to assess whether it was worthwhile to incur that public expenditure. This valuation is complemented by a digital reputation analysis. Design/methodology/approach A Flickr application programming interface search method extracted 795 public photos with the “Rubjerg and Knude” tags, taken between 2004 and 2019. The ZTCM analysis included 148 photographers who provided information about their residence location. Findings Depending on the regression models and assumptions made, the estimated economic value of the lighthouse (measured by the consumer surplus) varies between 5.5m and 133m euros. That means that the operation’s cost is only a small percentage of the expected economic recreational value. Research limitations/implications The sample of Flickr photographers is a proxy to estimate the zonal visitation rate for a specific destination. Zonal travel cost calculations are always based on some assumptions defined by researchers. Practical implications The paper frames the role of lighthouses as an (im)movable heritage element, which provides several cultural ecosystem services – in particular aesthetic, recreational, cultural/educational, bequest and sense of place values/benefits for tourists and residents. Social implications This study supports the political decision of preserving an identity symbol of a specific place, based solely on its recreational value. Originality/value This paper combines a monetary approach (ZTCM) with a digital reputation analysis of this iconic attraction.

Maritime endangered archaeology of the Middle East and North Africa: the MarEA project

The ‘Maritime Endangered Archaeology’ (MarEA) project is conducting remote, large-scale identification and assessment of vulnerable maritime heritage to assist in its management in the face of challenges such as climate change and rapid urbanisation.

Harnessing Remote Sensing Derived Sea Level Rise Models to Assess Cultural Heritage Vulnerability: A Case Study from the Northwest Atlantic Ocean

Climate change threatens cultural heritage across the globe. Of its varied impacts, sea level rise is critically pressing because of the long relationship between humans and the ocean. Numerous cultural heritage sites lie on the world’s fragile coasts. Identifying cultural heritage sites at risk is an urgent need, but archaeological research programs do not always have the resources available to conduct large-scale cultural heritage vulnerability assessments. Given sea level rise poses myriad pressing issues, entities around the globe are developing sea level rise models for various management purposes (ecology, hydrology, real estate, etc.). These remote sensing-derived sea level rise models can be harnessed by archaeologists to assess cultural heritage site vulnerability. Here, such an analysis is realized for a northwest Atlantic Ocean coastal area experiencing relative sea level rise and with robust cultural heritage, including economically significant maritime heritage tourism. Combining archaeological and historic geospatial databases with LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging)-derived relative sea level rise models illuminates coastal New Hampshire’s cultural heritage vulnerability. This is informative for risk monitoring, mitigation, and preservation planning, especially for cultural heritage tourism. The analysis also raises the need for discussions around what kind and whose heritage gets priority in planning for future sea level rise impacts.

Playing maritime capital: The Baltic Sea in the touristic representations of St. Petersburg

This paper presents the first findings of a research investigation into understudied aspects of the touristic use of St. Petersburg’s cultural heritage, notably the development of the ‘Maritime Capital of Russia’ as a tourist brand. We argue that the effectiveness of this imaginary ‘Maritime City’ entails a complex approach based on the concept of ‘Maritimity’. Through this perspective we consider the numerous maritime heritage sites of the city as a dynamic playground for the cultural play of heritage consumption. Using guidebooks as a key historical source, we demonstrate how and why touristic representations of St. Petersburg’s maritime past have been transformed, and explore the link between the general development of the country between 1980 and 2003 and the maritime element in the vision of St. Petersburg as a tourist destination.

Maritime archaeology of slave ships: reviews and future directions for Mauritius and the Indian Ocean

ABSTRACT Ships were essential for mobility during the colonial period, simultaneously serving as the mechanism of cultural exchange. The study of the artefacts recovered from shipwrecks provides valuable information on life at sea, relationships on-board, how captives endured their transformative voyages and how the trade in forced labour was enacted by colonial administrations. Despite this potential wealth of information, the complexities and expense associated with underwater archaeological research have formed a barrier to the exploration of wrecks used to transport enslaved peoples. However, a number of East African nations have now started initiatives not only to correct the paucity of research on slave trade shipwrecks, but also to protect their underwater cultural heritage. Among these countries, Mauritius has a particularly important prospect for maritime archaeological exploration. The presence of over 1200 wrecks demonstrates the considerable potential of the island’s maritime heritage. Especially notable has been the work undertaken on the Coureur shipwreck, a lugger built in 1818 in Grand Port and sunk in 1821 with a cargo of some 100 illegal slaves from Zanzibar. The sinking of the Coureur marked the true ending of the slave trade in Mauritius and the wreck’s discovery in 2004 has led to new research into Mauritius’ illegal slave trade.

Integrating maritime heritage and ocean literacy: Free-choice learning along the Connecticut Blue Heritage Trail

This article introduces the Connecticut Blue Heritage Trail, an interdisciplinary public outreach project conceived by Maritime Studies Program faculty at the University of Connecticut. The Blue Heritage Trail focuses on human connections to Connecticut’s marine environments, maritime economy, culture, and heritage, and aims to increase ocean literacy through free-choice learning. The project benefits from partnerships and collaborations with local outreach organizations, academic institutions, and historical societies, and encourages public engagement to promote a deeper understanding of ocean literacy and ocean stewardship. Beebe Pond Park and Mamacoke Conservation Area are examined in this paper in order to highlight the ubiquitous connections found between Connecticut’s maritime communities and geographical locations, and to illustrate the Ocean Literacy principle that “the ocean and humans are inextricably interconnected.” Facilitating the public understanding of this interconnectivity reinforces the importance of the ocean’s impact on individuals and communities and encourages engaged conversations and increased conservation efforts.

‘That’s the boat that reared us’. Maritime culture, place and the role of the ‘Galway hooker’ in southwest Conamara

ABSTRACT The West of Ireland ‘Galway hooker’ holds iconic status in the region’s maritime heritage and identity. In this paper we explore its significance from the perspective of bádóirí (boatmen or hooker sailors) and saortha báid (boat wrights) in southwest Conamara, whose lives and family histories revolve around this traditional wooden sailing craft. Selections from thirty-three interviews reveal emotions and meaningful experiences resonating through family biographies: stories of sacrifice, loss, obligation, love, reverence and excitement. We also trace how the hooker characterizes a tangible culture, animating a distinct local, embodied knowledge and sense of place. No longer premised upon economic livelihood, but primarily practiced as a leisure and heritage activity, the hooker and its material culture confer an ontologically sensed continuity of connection to place and culture over time. Here we provide insights to the centrality of the hooker for coastal communities and its sedimented, intergenerational emotional and cultural connections.