Maritime Landscape Research Articles

Seismic Vulnerability of Masonry Lighthouses: A Study of the Bengut Lighthouse, Dellys, Boumerdès, Algeria

In Algeria, lighthouses are an essential element of the maritime landscape and constitute a substantial part of the local historical and cultural heritage, marked by a great variety of styles, architecture, geometrical forms, and materials. The study presented falls into the general context of pre- and post-seismic conservation of Algerian lighthouses, since all these stone masonry buildings are situated in areas characterized by a medium–high seismic hazard. In the paper, a relevant example has been analyzed: the Bengut Lighthouse, which has been classified as “National Heritage” by the Algerian Ministry of Culture and has been severely damaged by the Boumerdès that occurred on 21 May 2003. After an overview of historical lighthouses in Algeria and their morpho-typological classification, the case study of the lighthouse at Cap Bengut is presented, showing the results of a detailed survey of the geometric and constructive features and of the actual cracking and damage pattern. First, based on the critical analysis of this knowledge framework, a preliminary qualitative evaluation of the seismic vulnerability has been made, analyzing and classifying the set of local and global failure modes coherently with the observed structural pathologies and damages. Then, numerical modeling has been implemented in TreMuri computer code, performing a set of pushover analyses. This allowed the investigation of the criticalities in the response of the building to seismic actions, characterization of the dynamic behavior, and comparison with the actual observed damages, which are discussed, providing an interpretation of the global and local failure modes. Based on the results of the visual assessment and numerical analysis, guidelines for the retrofitting intervention have been proposed, by considering, on the one hand, the objective of effectively mitigating the elements of vulnerability pointed out by the results and, on the other, the main principles of conservation and restoration. The presented study and its results, in perspective, are intended to provide a basis for developing risk and vulnerability analysis of typological classes of historical lighthouses at a large scale.

Madeline Fowler: Aboriginal Maritime Landscapes in South Australia: The Balance Ground

Madeline Fowler: Aboriginal Maritime Landscapes in South Australia: The Balance Ground

Where Facts and History Meet Myth and Legend: Groups or Communities in the Marvels of India Stories Model

The cAja-’ib al-Hind ( Marvels of India) is a collection of sea stories allegedly compiled by Captain Buzurg Ibn Shahriya-r (d. 399/1009) which belongs to an Arabo-Islamic literary genre called the caja-’ib, containing themes of entertainment—things that are marvellous and strange. But these stories are not merely entertaining, they are an additional resource for the modern researcher because they also reflect the realities of daily life in seafaring communities of the Indian Ocean in the ninth and tenth centuries. Among the tales of the fantastic and the marvel, we find the simple humanity of the seafarers, something lacking in the purely factual, medieval, geographical and historical texts. A complementary model to the understanding of the maritime landscape of a group or community is proposed in this article. The stories model in this article demonstrates the relationship of an occupational group with other seafarers in a trans-regional Indian Ocean trade.

DIGITAL MODELS FOR THE ANALYSIS AND ENHANCEMENT OF HYBRID SPACES: ARCHITECTURE OF THE MATTANZA

Abstract. Project ‘U Mari examines the long-term relationship between the sea, coast, and local peoples through the various lenses of maritime mobilities, interactions, and livelihoods along the shore of southeast Sicily, specifically between the Vendicari Reserve and Capo Passero. With an eye toward valorizing the ‘mattanza’ as intangible cultural heritage, our work focuses on the rich material remains of this distinctive Mediterranean form of bluefin tuna trap fishing, using 3D recording and visualization of its associated objects, spaces, and landscapes to relate vivid diachronic stories for the public. Our methodology integrates archaeological survey of the landscape, architecture, and social practices of tuna fishing that act as a bridge between ancient, early modern, and contemporary livelihoods. Through comprehensive digitization, we generate interoperable and parametric models aimed not only at the recording and restoration of objects and spaces, but also – in combination with interviews and archival work – at the valorization and revitalization of traditional practice within contemporary socioeconomic contexts. Through these digital methods, Project ‘U Mari seeks to engage the public with a deeper understanding of historical maritime lifeways using exhibition, virtual environments, and revived traditions. Such an approach can encourage environmentally sound fishing practices that draw on local knowledge and yield local economic benefits and responsible tourism. In this way, the historic and archaeological past offers the opportunity to create a new common language for understanding and communicating the architectural evidence of local traditions, history, and livelihoods in this rich maritime landscape.

Repositioning Indonesia in the Changing Maritime Landscape of the Indo-Pacific Region

Indo-Pacific has been among the most contested regions in the past decade. After China demonstrated its ambitious goal in reviving maritime silk road with its military and economic presence, United States, India, Japan, and Australia formed a new coalition to counter this strategy. This paper aims to examine the position of Indonesia as a traditional regional maritime power in the context of this changing maritime landscape of the Indo-Pacific region. In doing so, this paper develops the concept of “the three faces of maritime power” which distinguishes maritime power into hard, soft, and normative maritime power. The findings of this paper indicates that Indonesia demonstrates less of its hard and soft power, but it capitalizes on its normative power to demonstrate its presence in the new maritime landscape of the Indo Pacific

Schop, spade of stuurriem? Een bijzondere vondst uit Ezinge

Shovel, spade or side rudder? A special find from Ezinge. In 1933, excavations in the terp of Ezinge (province of Groningen) uncovered an object made out of oak in a house dating from the beginning of the 5th century BC. The object was recorded as a wooden shovel. Its asymmetrical shape, in combination with its lack of handle and its perforated shaft, however, suggest that it may not be a shovel (or a spade), although the possibility cannot be ruled out altogether. The shape of the object seems suitable for use as a side rudder, used to steer a long, dugout canoe powered by multiple paddlers. The earliest side rudders reported in the literature from northwestern Europe are from the late Roman period in southern Scandinavia. If the object could be proven to be a side rudder, it would be a rare find. It would also be one of a very small number of finds that can be associated with boats in the maritime landscape where Ezinge was situated. We recommend experimental research to better understand the use of dugout canoes and side rudders, and to reassess similar objects that have been recorded as shovels or spades.

Using polygons to model maritime movement in antiquity

With a goal of understanding and visualizing the shifting concentrations of movement across the Mediterranean Sea on a centennial basis, the MISAMS (Modeling Inhabited Spaces of the Ancient Mediterranean Sea) Project developed a new GIS-based interpretive methodology that collates and superimposes a series of polygons to model densities of maritime activity in the Mediterranean Sea from the 7th century BC to the 7th century AD. After discussing the project's use of place, space, and maritime landscapes as a theoretical background, this paper explains this new methodology then demonstrates and tests results representing activity in the 1st-century BC western-Mediterranean basin. These results, apparently manifesting distinct socially-constructed places, suggest that this new approach creates new opportunities to understand the movement of people and goods across the Mediterranean in the past, and the varying uses and perceptions of maritime space in antiquity. As this method requires a dense and well-studied corpora of archaeological data, it is theoretically applicable to other maritime regions that have (or will have) the appropriate dataset, and may represent a new research agenda in maritime archaeology.

Defining Maritime Cultural Landscapes in California

ABSTRACTDefining a maritime cultural landscape relies on recognizing both the landscape and seascape as integral to maritime societies. While this concept has been part of anthropological studies for decades, data from the submerged portion of the maritime landscape is often overlooked. The maritime archaeological work needed to collect these data has historically been marginalized within the broader archaeological discipline, but is slowly gaining widespread acceptance. More island and coastal researchers have begun integrating land- and sea-based data into their project designs, promoting recognition of the importance of sea-based data from submerged landscapes and encouraging understanding that maritime cultural landscapes shaped and are shaped by maritime societies. Among the many maritime cultural landscapes worldwide, we present two examples from California that exemplify how researchers are conceptualizing maritime landscapes and gathering data necessary for a holistic view of maritime societies and the spaces that influence their cultural development.

Structures and Settlement Organization at Kua Ruins, Juani (Mafia Archipelago, Tanzania)

The settlement of Kua in the Mafia Archipelago, Tanzania, has considerable research potential. It was surveyed in 2010 as part of a larger project to understand the maritime landscapes of the archipelago and elucidate the social context of maritime exploitation. The study provided the opportunity to examine Swahili architecture and settlement patterns during a period when Swahili engagement with the Indian Ocean world was in decline. The previous researchers in this region have often overlooked the settlements of this period, ca. sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, and have dismissed their architectural features as “uninspiring” (Chittick 1957, p. 3). This article offers a detailed record of the structural remains at Kua in order to facilitate a greater understanding of the historical and cultural place of the settlement within the wider Swahili world. The study also contributes to the comprehensive understanding of the Swahili built landscape and organization of space.

A Strategy for Assessing Continuity in Terrestrial and Maritime Landscapes from Murujuga (Dampier Archipelago), North West Shelf, Australia

Over the last 20,000 years, one third of the continental land mass of Australia, or 2.12 million km2, has been drowned by postglacial sea-level rise. Much of this drowned territory is thought to have been occupied by humans. Where archaeological remains have survived inundation, they can be investigated by underwater and airborne remote sensing, survey, and ground-truthing. This study of the Dampier Archipelago of North West Australia is contextualized by a review of the current state of the art of underwater prehistory. In the absence of known sites, we propose terrestrial analogy as a predictive tool for targeting submerged archaeological sites. Geological and topographic contexts are important for assessing preservation potential as is identifying landforms and features around which people may have focused occupation. Analysis of more than 2,500 known archaeological sites from the extraordinarily rich Dampier Archipelago reveals that the vast majority are rock art sites, but these are interspersed by a significant number of artifact scatters, myriad stone structures, shell middens, and quarry and reduction areas. The majority of these sites are focused on coastal and interior valleys, associated uplands, and coastal embayments. While over two thirds of sites occur on granophyre and basalt substrates, the others are located on Quaternary sediments. Regional research on nearby continental islands shows that use of these environments can be expected to pre-date sea-level rise. The most likely submerged sites include: 1) compacted middens associated with rock pools and estuarine features; 2) stone structures with associated middens on limestone pavements or with granophyre and basalt boulder fields; 3) buried midden and other occupation deposits on protected sand sheets; 4) quarry outcrops, extraction pits, and associated reduction debris in areas of fine-grained granophyre and basalt; and 5) middens in consolidated calcarenite shoreline contexts to the north and west of the volcanic suites of the Dampier Archipelago.

Storyways: Visualising Saintly Impact in a North Atlantic Maritime Landscape

Abstract This paper presents a new methodological approach and theorising framework which visualises intangible landscapes. The Cult of Saint Magnus of Orkney (martyred c.AD1117 and canonised c.1135) is presented as a case study to demonstrate how spatial and temporal veneration can be explored in the landscape. The transferability of this methodology extends to any multi-source study where memories link to landscape features (past or present). St Magnus dedications, altars and church furnishings in Scandinavia and Britain demonstrate his international recognition, but aside from three Magnus dedicated churches, little is known of his veneration within Orkney. By using GIS to map archaeological, onomastic, folkloric, historic and hagiographic evidence of veneration we have visualised the impact of the Cult of Magnus since martyrdom to recent times for the first time. Furthermore, by visually differentiating between sources, we’ve distinguished the variability and variety of evidence, thus identifying concentrated pockets of veneration through time. Additionally, by linking evidence locations, we have identified ‘remembered’ routeways – storyways. In doing so, we have mapped the impact of Magnus as a saint, his value to particular communities and his continuing influence.

Een vondst van groot belang: de boot van Britsum (Fr.)

A find of great importance: the boat of Britsum. 
 In 1906, a boat, or at least ship’s timbers, were unearthed during commercial quarrying of the terp (dwelling mound) of Britsum (province of Fryslân/Friesland). It was recently found that a number of fragments have survived; they are stored in the Northern Archaeological Depot at Nuis. Since finds of vessels and ship’s timbers in the formerly maritime landscape of the northern Netherlands are extremely rare, and knowledge about ships and seafaring in this area is limited, these fragments have been thoroughly examined. A sample was radiocarbon-dated, with an outcome of 1246 ± 15BP, 685-778 calAD, a period with hardly any finds of ship’s timbers in the Netherlands. The two fragments that were examined were frames: a knee and a v-shaped floor timber of a flat-bottomed vessel. Their shape shows that this may have been a boat with two pointed ends, in Dutch a punter. Since part of this boat may still be hidden in the remainder of the terp of Britsum, further investigation of this site is recommended.

Knidian “Anyports”: a model of coastal adaptation and socioeconomic connectivity from southwest Turkey

Recent archaeological studies reveal a growing interest in the relationship between local coastal dynamics and broader currents of Mediterranean seaborne connectivity. Using as a case study the complex harbour site of Burgaz and its maritime landscape of the Datça peninsula in southwest Turkey, this paper considers trajectories of port development in communities that are pre-modern and pre-industrial but increasingly interconnected and interdependent. While the peninsula’s fertile low-lying farmlands made Archaic and early Classical Burgaz an economic backbone and centre of regional exchange in the southeast Aegean, the growth of eastern Mediterranean networks of the late Classical and Hellenistic era eventually favoured Knidos as the better situated hub for maritime activity. Building on the influential “Anyport Model” by geographer James Bird (1963, 1971), this article explores patterns of coastal development at Burgaz as a reflection of local responses to intersecting political, economic and environmental factors. By contextualizing the long-term evolution of one dynamic landscape, the model aims to shed light on how ancient Mediterranean port communities negotiated a constantly shifting place within complex and evolving maritime networks.

La prégnance maritime chez Jean Muno

<p>The aim of this paper is to explore the specific and symbolic role of the sea in the whole work of Jean Muno (1924-1988), not only in his fantastic narratives. By including in this study some unknown but significant texts of this French-speaking Belgian writer, we will examine the reasons for the recurrence of the maritime landscape. We will highlight the strong links between the fictional creations of the author and his experience on different coasts - especially of the North Sea littoral - during his stays in holiday resorts (illustrated in the photos).</p>

Ships and Maritime Landscapes: Proceedings of the 13th International Symposium on Boat and Ship Archaeology, Amsterdam, 2012 JERZYGAWRONSKI, ANDRÉVAN HOLK and JOOSTSCHOKKENBROEK (eds) 525 pp., fully illustrated in colour and b&w, Barkhuis Publishing, Eeld

Ships and Maritime Landscapes: Proceedings of the 13th International Symposium on Boat and Ship Archaeology, Amsterdam, 2012 JERZYGAWRONSKI, ANDRÉVAN HOLK and JOOSTSCHOKKENBROEK (eds) 525 pp., fully illustrated in colour and b&w, Barkhuis Publishing, Eeld

Modelling the impacts of agriculture in mixed-use landscapes: a review and case study involving two species of dabbling ducks

This study synthesizes evidence from three separate surveys of American Black Duck and Mallard breeding habitat usage to quantify the effects of agriculture at the landscape scale. To assess duck breeding activity in agricultural landscapes within the Canadian maritimes in order to measure the overall impact of agricultural land use, the response to particular agricultural activities, and the influence of landscape configuration. Models, constructed using a long-term census (SURVEY1), were used to predict habitat selection for two other independent surveys (SURVEY2, SURVEY3). Predictions incorporated information about wetland area and diversity, as well as anthropogenic factors, allowing subsequent analyses to focus on the remaining residual error attributable to agricultural effects. SURVEY2 results demonstrated that the proportion of active agriculture is an important indicator of the severity of human disturbance, yielding threshold estimates of 39% for Mallards and 60% for Black Ducks, with an overall average of 50%. Agricultural conversion beyond these thresholds deterred breeding ducks independently of other factors. SURVEY3 land cover information demonstrated that the presence of cropland intensified this deterrence effect, even at levels as low as 10%. Woodland cover (in excess of 30%) was important for both species, but its configuration was not. In addition to quantifying threshold effects, this study reaffirms that woodland is an important part of the maritime landscape matrix, and contributes positively to habitat diversity in mixed use, moderate intensity agricultural regions. Wetland restoration in agricultural landscapes should monitor and promote less crop-intensive, mixed-use practices.

Book Review: The Maritime Landscape of the Isthmus of Panamá

Book Review: The Maritime Landscape of the Isthmus of Panamá

The Maritime Landscape of the Isthmus of Panamá

The Maritime Landscape of the Isthmus of Panamá

A sea view: perceptions of maritime space and landscape in accounts of nineteenth-century colonial steamship travel

This article explores the introduction of steam propulsion into the sea route to India in the second quarter of the nineteenth century. The entry of steam into shipping marked a radical development in the nature of sea travel, not least, I argue, in the imaginative geographies of the voyage. There were significant alterations in the way that maritime space came to be expressed and represented, changes which were articulated at the level of the visual, in responses to the maritime landscape. These historical geographies of colonial shipping are considered through the examination of voyage narratives by passengers who travelled aboard the steamships of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, on the distinct geography of transit that became known as the 'overland route'. Through an analysis of historical change as it was articulated at the level of experience, I argue that technological means of propulsion played a key role in shaping colonial responses to space and landscape.

월트 휘트먼의 작품에 나타난 해양 풍경 : ‘포마녹’에 관련된 바다와 섬의 일체성

월트 휘트먼의 작품에 나타난 해양 풍경 : ‘포마녹’에 관련된 바다와 섬의 일체성