Maritime Trade Routes Research Articles

Like Lambs in Japan and Devils outside Their Land: Diplomacy, Violence, and Japanese Merchants in Southeast Asia

Beginning in the first decade of the seventeenth century, Tokugawa Ieyasu, the effective ruler of Japan, sent dozens of letters to Cochinchina, Cambodia, Patani, the Philippines, and other states and colonies scattered across Southeast Asia. The dispatch of these documents marked a significant shift in Japanese diplomatic patterns. For the first time, Japan broke decisively from the confines of East Asia to connect with wider networks of trade and diplomacy. If the fact that such documents could be sent in the first place reveals new possibilities for engagement, their content highlights some of the problems created by the expansion of maritime trade routes in this period. Dispatched in response to a string of incidents in ports across the region, these letters provide clear evidence of the frequent violence that accompanied the Japanese push into Southeast Asia. In their willingness to shift easily between trade and violence, Japanese merchants bear a striking resemblance to their European rivals who appeared in the region at roughly the same time, and the last section of this article focuses on what these letters can tell us both about the similarities but also the key differences between these groups. In particular, it argues that these documents reveal a divergent attitude toward the relationship between state and subject that accounts in part for the relative success that Europeans enjoyed in early modern Asia.

A Late Bronze Age Shipwreck with a Metal Cargo from Hishuley Carmel, Israel

A 13th-century-BC shipwreck site, Hishuley Carmel, is described and discussed. It provides direct evidence for marine transport of copper and tin along the Israeli coast and may indicate inland and maritime trade-routes of metals in the Mediterranean. The shipwreck represents a supply-system providing the demand for bronze in the Levant. Trace-elements and lead-isotope analysis suggest that the copper came from Cyprus, similarly to bun and oxhide ingots from Uluburun. The source of the tin cannot yet be ascertained. The medium-size ship was probably grounded and wrecked during a storm. Some of the cargo may have been salvaged in Antiquity. © 2012 The Authors

Maritime History in Mozambique and East Africa: The Urgent Need for the Proper Study and Preservation of Endangered Underwater Cultural Heritage

The East African coast is a rich domain for underwater cultural heritage, whose archaeological remains are only beginning to reveal the extent of indigenous nautical technology, regional and international social contacts, and far-reaching maritime trade routes sailed for millennia. The diversity of remains found under water range from cultures up and down the East African coastline to further afield: from China, points surrounding the Indian Ocean, to the Persian Gulf, Middle East and Europe. In Mozambique, important steps to investigate and preserve this heritage have been taken over the last 20 years by several groups of local scholars in collaboration with international research institutions. However, this heritage, especially that which lies along the northern Mozambique coast, has also been subjected to extensive and serious disturbance by commercially-oriented salvage programs. These salvage activities have not only had a very negative impact on the state of the cultural resources themselves, but have also prevented the access of legitimate scholars to these resources—particularly grave is the intervention at Mozambique Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Among the meritorious efforts to mitigate this situation, in Mozambique and world-wide, the 2001 UNESCO Convention for the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage is an outstanding initiative and needs to be ratified by Mozambique and other East African states.

Supply routes and the consumption of glass in first millennium CE Butrint (Albania)

Archaeological, historical and analytical evidence can identify trade patterns and the movement of people and products and thus reveal the cultural and economic connections that existed at a given time. In the case of first millennium CE glass, the manufacture of raw glass in a limited number of glass making installations with unique compositional characteristics makes it possible to trace the likely origin of the raw materials at consumption sites. In this way the analytical characterisation of a large corpus of glass finds can identify changes in the supply routes of high-end industrial products from the Roman to the middle Byzantine period. Through the chemical analysis of a comprehensive glass assemblage from first to eighth century Butrint (Albania), the continuity and discontinuity of the supply of glass is traced at this consumption site. Ancient Butrint is located at the crossing point of late antique maritime trade routes, and this is reflected in the city’s archaeological record that includes a large number of glass artefacts as well as evidence of secondary glass working. The compositional analysis of glass samples from different archaeological contexts at Butrint revealed a great complexity as regards the base glass compositions. At least six sub-groups of soda-lime-silica glass can be distinguished that correspond to different identified primary glass production groups including Roman, HIMT and Egypt II glasses. Notably, one sub-group (WD2) among the Butrint fragments displays close proximity to other early medieval glass from central and northern Europe, whose precise place of origin is yet to be established. Chronological variations suggest a change in the supply of raw glasses with a dominance of Egyptian glass types during the early medieval period.

Glass from China and from India: Finds of Vessel Glass from Fourteenth Century Singapore

The paper presents two different groups of vessel glass fragments found in fourteenth century Singapore. They differ in almost every aspect of size, shape, technique, and chemical composition of their glass. The first group consists of small, apparently core-formed vessels with polychrome decoration. The second group represents a selection of blown glass vessels characterised by their peculiar rim shape. The paper explores the stylistic, typological, and technical relation of the glass vessels in their historical context. According to the chemical analyses the glass of the first group originates from China, whereas that of the second group from South Asia. The find distribution of related glassware in Southeast Asia reflects the flow of such luxury commodities along the maritime trade routes, emphasising the geographical situation of Singapore “ between two oceans” : the South China Sea and – via the Strait of Malacca – the Indian Ocean.

Ahead of its time?

Classic Maya sites in the lowlands of the Yucatan Peninsula are generally known for their monumental art and architecture in central sacrosanct spaces, and their political economies are believed to have been highly centralized. The predominantly Early Classic site of Chunchucmil, however, does not fit this stereotype. Moreover, even though its urban population ranks among the largest and most densely packed in any Maya site, it inhabits one of the most depauperate agricultural landscapes. These idiosyncrasies have stimulated a great deal of archaeological research, all of which lead to the conclusion that Chunchucmil had a surprisingly commercialized economy. In addition to importing basic necessities, some of which were exchanged in a large central marketplace, its basic economy was built on servicing merchants along the most active Mesoamerican maritime trade route and funneling long distance trade items to sites in the interior of the peninsula. This article summarizes the data leading to the conclusion that Chunchucmil’s economic complexity rivaled that of the secondary states of the Postclassic Period and therefore was way ahead of its time. It also questions whether the kind of bottom-up approach applied here might reveal more complex economies at other Classic Maya sites than the more ardent advocates of the prevailing, monolithic ‘political economy’ paradigm have thus far been able to concede. In which case, it was perhaps only slightly ahead of its time.

Geographical widespread of two lineages of Taenia solium due to human migrations: Can population genetic analysis strengthen this hypothesis?

In this paper we discuss, with a new analysis of published data, the phylogenetic hypothesis of two genotypes of Taenia solium previously suggested. Sequences of mitochondrial ( co1, cob, nad) and nuclear (18S+ITS1+5.8S, LMWA1 and LMWA2) T. solium DNA from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Oceania deposited in GenBank international databases were analyzed for diversity and genetic structure. Overall, we found that percentages of polymorphic and informative sites were comparatively less in mitochondrial genes, and minimum or null values of nucleotide diversity and nucleotide polymorphism were also observed. Analysis of co1 populations showed two associations of particular interest: Asia/Latin America and Africa/Latin America; with minimal differentiation between them and a constant genetic flow. Bayesian phylogenetic trees built with the available sequences for co1+ cob showed two clusters, one for Asia and another one for Africa/Latin America while with ribosomal sequences only one cluster was obtained that grouped Asian and Latin American populations. The haplotype network tree built using co1+ cob showed two major clades, one clustering African and Latin American parasite populations and the other grouping Asian populations, hallmarking Mexican/Peruvian and the Indian populations as dispersion centers, respectively. The haplotype network tree built with ribosomal sequences exhibited Philippines and Peru/Mexico/Colombia as the two major dispersion centers, with several Latin American haplotypes diverging from the latter. Our results suggest that the gene flow within the different T. solium populations has the same dispersion pattern than the main maritime trade routes used between the XV and XIX centuries.

New Perspectives in the Study of Al-Andalus Ceramics, Mértola (Portugal) and the Mediterranean Maritime Routes in the Islamic Period

Mértola was a medieval port situated at the most northerly navigable point of the River Guadiana (Portugal). The port is located at an intersection between regional commercial networks and long distance Mediterranean maritime trade routes. In the Islamic period, especially in the sixth/twelfth century, traded ceramic vessels arrived at Mértola as a result of exchange with various ports in the Western Mediterranean. However, in the hinterland regions of Mértola these vessels are relatively rare. Instead, the traded ceramics, which were transhipped at Mértola, were distributed to nearby cities such as Beja, Moura and Évora. The consumers of these products were groups of elevated economic status, living in large settlements. In small rural settlements these traded ceramics are not present, suggesting that they were unobtainable to the rural population.

Ancient Maritime Trade on Balsa Rafts: An Engineering Analysis

By approximately 100 BC Ecuadorian traders had established maritime commercial routes extending from Chile to Colombia. Historical sources indicate that they transported their merchandise in large, ocean-going sailing rafts made of balsa logs. By about AD 700 the data show that Ecuadorian metalworking technology had reached the west coast of Mexico but remained absent in the region between Guerrero and lower Central America. Archaeologists have argued that this technology was most plausibly transmitted via balsa raft exchange routes. This article uses mathematical simulation of balsa rafts' mechanical and material characteristics to determine whether these rafts were suitable vessels for long-distance travel. Our analysis shows that these rafts were fully functional sailing vessels that could have navigated between Ecuador and Mexico. This conclusion greatly strengthens the argument that Ecuadorian metallurgical technology and aspects of the metallurgical technologies of adjacent South American regions were transmitted from South America to western Mexico via maritime trade routes.

The Ribat of Arsuf and the Coastal Defence System in Early Islamic Palestine

Early Muslim governors and army commanders of Bilād al-Shām (Greater Syria) were aware of the strategic importance of the coastal frontiers of their territories along the eastern basin of the Mediterranean. With the ascent of the Umayyads and the transfer of the capital from Kufa (Iraq) to Damascus, the Syrian region was fortified with ribāṭs and miḥrāses. The purpose was both to protect the coast from outside attacks and to protect Umayyad rule in its first years from internal as well as external threats, and to guard trunk routes on land and maritime trade routes within the territorial waters of the Islamic provinces. There were three types of ribāṭs in the Muslim world. The first may be called ribāṭ towns, which included coastal and port towns. Their importance was not only economic and cultural but also military and strategic. These were fortified towns surrounded by watchtowers, often with inner forts, and garrisoned with cavalry troops to defend the coast from hostile raids. The second type was the military fortress, Sūsa and Monastir in Tunisia, for example, and Azdūd, Māḥūz Yubnā and Kafr Lām in Palestine. These fortresses, generally situated outside the town limits, in front of it and facing the enemy, are of the central courtyard type with round watchtowers at the corners and two semicircular towers protecting the main gate. The courtyards were surrounded by arms and food warehouses, stables for cattle and horses, larger and smaller rooms, as well as prayers niches. The third type was a military lookout tower manned by at least five horsemen, equipped with defensive and deterrent arms. Arsūf is thought to be one of the seven ribāṭs that protected the capital Ramla until the Crusader conquest. Like the others, Arsūf was a walled town (probably backed up by a fort) and linked to Ramla by a line of watchtowers. The overwhelming majority of its citizens were Muslims, some of them famous scholars and even qāḍīs who served in the defence of Jund Filasṭīn as also of Muslim frontiers beyond Bilād al-Shām. Those stationed in the ribāṭ of Arsūf earned their living from crafts, industry, farming, and trade. The proximity to Ramla made it necessary for regular soldiers and volunteers to relieve the jihād warriors several times a year. The memorial structure (maqām), widely known as Maqām Sayyidunā ʿAlī, appears to have been built in the eleventh century ce, and is said to be the work of Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn ʿUlaym or ʿUlayl, a descendants of the second caliph, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb.

A geochemical study of bituminous mixtures from Failaka and Umm an‐Namel (Kuwait), from the Early Dilmun to the Early Islamic period

This paper is the last in a series presenting geochemical analyses of fragments of bituminous mixtures excavated from archaeological sites in Kuwait. The first was devoted to bituminous boat remains from the Ubaid‐related Neolithic site of H3, As‐Sabiyah, while the second dealt with bituminous amalgams from the Partho‐Sasanian site of cAkkaz, a former island now joined to the south side of Kuwait Bay. This, the third, refers to bitumen‐bearing samples from two other islands, Failaka and Umm an‐Namel, and covers a time span including the Early Dilmun period, the Kassite period and the Hellenistic to Early Islamic periods. The composition of the bituminous amalgams was studied in detail. The proportions of soluble and insoluble organic matter as well as vegetal organic matter were evaluated. Mineralogical composition by X‐Ray diffraction and thin‐section analysis was used to estimate the mineral input in the bituminous mixtures. It can be confirmed that the recipes used in the preparation of these bituminous amalgams comply with those traditionally used in antiquity, as seen at many sites in Mesopotamia and the Gulf. Analysis of the soluble organic matter, and especially its ‘‘saturates’’ fraction, provided sterane and terpane distributions and the measurement of diagnostic molecular ratios. These data, complemented by the isotopic composition of asphaltenes, allowed the identification of the sources of the bitumen, by calibration with numerous references from Iran and northern Iraq (oil seeps, bitumen from archaeological sites). It was established that the bitumen from Failaka and Umm an‐Namel was mainly imported from central Iraq (Hit‐Abu Jir) and northern Iraq (around Mosul). One sample of oil‐stained sand, dating to the Early Dilmun period, originated from Burgan and thus documents small‐scale imports from inland Kuwait. These results, and those of previous analyses, agree with the geopolitical context of the Early Dilmun, Kassite and Hellenistic periods, and the maritime trade routes that linked Mesopotamia to the settlements of the Gulf and beyond. The paper concludes with an overview of recent bitumen provenance analyses, and discerns chronological patterns in the distribution of Iraqi and Iranian bitumen in the Gulf and Indian Ocean, from the Neolithic to the Islamic periods.

The Structure of Slavery in the Sulu Zone in the Late Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

At the end of the eighteenth century, the world economic system came to dominate the Sulu Sultanate and its surrounding areas. The island of Jolo became an entrepot and the Sulu Sultanate flourished. This prosperity was made possible by economic interconnections between British India, South- East Asia and China. At that time in England, tea replaced ale as the national drink. Most of this aromatic tea was cultivated in the mountains of Fujian, China. The south Fukienese people who controlled the Amoy trading network on the South China coast had maintained contact with the Sulu Sultanate and eastern parts of the archipelago since the beginning of the eighteenth century. Because of this contact, the dominant ethnic group, the Taosug, had an initial outlet for their marine and forest products, especially trepang, pearls and birds' nest, which the junks carried on the return trip to China. When the British realized that they could participate in the Sino-Sulu trade, they also sought these Sulu zone exports.' Among the richest sources of such products were the shores and wilderness along the northeast coast of Borneo. Kenyah and Kayan speakers of Borneo's east coast tropical forests and the Subanun of Mindanao's southern plateau were increasingly drawn into trade with the Taosug. They provided enormous amounts of wax, camphor and birds' nest in exchange for salt, textiles and other manufactured goods. At first, trepang was traded for cloth, clothing, iron and other metals; later, for gunpowder, musket and cannon. Guns, gunpowder and other imported products, including textiles and opium became very important to Sulu. The efforts of ambitious datus, Taosug aristocrats, to participate in this burgeoning world-capitalist economy swelled the flow of global-regional trade and forced up the demand for additional labour, which was met by Iranun and Samal Balangingi slave raiders of the Sulu zone. From the end of the eighteenth to the middle of the nineteenth centuries, South-East Asia felt the full force of these slave raiders who earned a reputation as daring, fierce marauders who jeopardized the maritime trade routes of South-East Asia and dominated the capture and transport of slaves to the Sulu Sultanate.* Tens of thousands of captives from across South-East Asia were seized by these sea raiders and put to work in the zone's fisheries, in the sultan's birds' nest caves, or in the cultivation of rice and transport of goods to markets. More than anything else it was this source and use of labour power that was to give Sulu its distinctive predatory character in the eyes of nineteenth-century Europeans. It was powerful economic forces, energized by world commerce demands for a range of products, that pushed the Taosug aristocracy to acquire increasing numbers of slaves. In order to trade, it was necessary for the Taosug to have something to give in exchange and the only way to obtain commodities was to secure more slaves by means of long-distance maritime raiding. In the early nineteenth century, the rate of growth of the sultanate's population had not kept pace with its expanding international trade economy. Since the labour of slaves made global-regional trade possible, slavery rose markedly from this time and became the dominant mode of production.

New perspectives on distant horizons: aspects of Egyptian imperial administration in Marmarica in the Late Bronze Age

AbstractThis article discusses some of the results of the fieldwork which has been carried out since 1994 by Liverpool University at the site of Zawiyet Umm el-Rakham (Mersa Matruh). In particular it concentrates on how the epigraphic and archaeological evidence recovered from this Ramesside fortress-town has produced new insights into Egypto-Libyan relations, and especially how Egypt operated its short-lived imperial administration of the Marmarican coast during the Late Bronze Age. Egyptian inscriptional evidence from the fortress names the specific Libyan groups against which it was directed, while adding to the debate regarding the areas of operation of these groups by locating itself within “Tjemeh-Land”. Both inscriptional and archaeological evidence indicate that Zawiyet Umm el-Rakham was intended to be, and became, a major fortress-town like those known from Egypt's Nubian and Levantine empire. Evidence for food-processing and the production of linen cloth makes it clear that Zawiyet Umm el-Rakham was largely self-sufficient rather than being reliant on supplies from the Nile Valley. However, this self-sufficiency could only be maintained with the goodwill of local Libyan groups, suggesting some level of economic symbiosis between those groups and the fortress' garrison. On a wider level, the desire to protect Egyptian economic interests, in particular international maritime trade routes, was undoubtedly a major factor behind the construction of this (and other) fortresses on the Mediterranean coast during the reign of Ramesses II.Finds of significant quantities of foreign (Canaanite, Aegean, Cypriote) material at Zawiyet Umm el-Rakham are a clear indicator of this role, while it is suggested that the Libyan groups against whom this trade route needed to be protected were not the ‘local’ Tjehenu and Tjemeh Libyans but the newly-appeared Meshwesh and Libu.

Cycles of Silver: Global Economic Unity through the Mid-Eighteenth Century

Conversion of China's monetary and fiscal systems to a silver standard led to a doubling in the value of silver in China vis-�-vis the rest of the world by the early sixteenth century. Heightened profit opportunities induced an unprecedented surge in silver production in Spanish America and in Japan. Destined ultimately for China, tens of thousands of tons of silver passed through Europe via long-distance maritime and overland trade routes. Fifty tons of silver annually also reached China via the Pacific Ocean after the founding of the Spanish city of Manila in 1571. Japan exported huge quantities of silver to China until the late seventeenth century. New American crops were also introduced to Chinese agriculture via the Manila galleons, contributing to a doubling or more of Chinese population in the eighteenth century. Silver demand grew along with China's population, which in turn led to a fifty percent silver price premium in China. Largely in response to buoyant demand, more Mexican silver was produced during the eighteenth century than had been produced by all of Spanish America during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries combined. Subsequently, during the second half of the eighteenth century, a "tea and opium cycle" propelled British fortunes in Asia. Economic, environmental, and demographic histories must not be viewed as independent phenomena. It is a mistake to view societies around the world as independent of or weakly connected to global forces. All heavily populated continents have been deeply connected since the sixteenth century.

Historical Dictionary of Djibouti

Established as a country a little more than a century ago, born as an independent republic in June 1977, Djibouti is among the youngest as well as the smallest states in Africa. Yet its strategic location at the crossroads of the maritime trade routes between Africa, Asia and Europe turned this tiny spot on the world map into a vital player in twentieth century geopolitics. This historical dictionary has been conceived not as a history book but as a reading grid for the major historical items that are still molding the country's social, political and economic life.

The Barricade and Abandonment of Chunchucmil: Implications for Northern Maya Warfare

AbstractA long low mound of rubble incompletely surrounds part of the central zone at the Classic Period site of Chunchucmil, Yucatan, Mexico. This wall was hastily built from stone robbed from nearby buildings and roadbeds and it clearly served as a defensive barricade. All indications are that the barricade represents a one-time event whereupon the site was attacked, overrun, and abandoned. Re-analysis of other known fortified sites across Yucatan"s northern plains show some fundamental similarities. I suggest that all sites with barricades still standing suffered wars of annihilation rather than wars of conquest and subjugation by the victors. I suggest that the Chunchucmil distribution node was annihilated because its proximity to consumption centers in nuclear Mesoamerica reduced the competitiveness of other Yucatecan coastal trade sites that were located further away along the Gulf Coast maritime trade route.

The Low Countries' Export Trade in Textiles with the Mediterranean Basin, 1200–1600: A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Comparative Advantages in Overland and Maritime Trade Routes

This paper challenges the conventional wisdom in European economic history that long-distance maritime transport was always more cost-effective than overland trade routes. Thus the majority of historians in the past century have attributed the rapid decline of the medieval Champagne Fairs, governing the textile trades between the Low Countries, northern France, and Italy, to the establishment of an effective and ‘permanent’ direct sea-route between Italy and north-west Europe from the early 14th century (though the first, a Genoese galley, can be dated to 1277). In my paper, I contend that a spreading stain of chronic, continuous warfare throughout western Europe and the Mediterranean basin from the 1290s, leading into the Hundred Years’ War (1336-1453), with a consequent sharp rise in transport and transaction costs in international trade, was instead the major factor in the decline of the Champagne Fairs, in the concomitant decline of the overland continental trade routes associated with them, and with a forced shift to the maritime trading routes between Italy and north-west Europe. During this war-torn, plague-disrupted period of economic contraction, up to the 1450s, the costs of shipping luxury woollens by the maritime route was certainly cheaper than by overland routes; but the relative cost of the maritime route was still higher than the cost of transporting cheap textiles (says) overland in the late 13th century. Indeed, this steep rise in late-medieval transaction costs in international trade had forced the north-western European textile industries to give up the export of the very cheap, light textiles and focus instead on luxury woollens that could better ‘bear the freight’. Subsequently, however, from the 1450s, with the establishment of alternative, more easterly overland routes in areas free from warfare, principally via the Rhine, then with the restoration of relative peace after the end of the Hundred Years’ War, and with the South German silver-copper mining boom, the overland continental trade routes rapidly revived, and with them a series of newer continental-trade based fairs (Antwerp, Frankfurt, Geneva, Lyons). During the later 15th and 16th centuries, these continental trade routes and their associated fair-system were virtually the sole mechanism by which textiles from north-west Europe were exported to Italy and the Mediterranean basin, because, inter alia, the overland distance from the Antwerp Fairs to Venice was only about 20% of the distance by the often hazardous sea routes. The principal textiles involved in this overland, trans-continental trade were : luxury-quality English woollens, medium-quality kerseys, and especially the very cheap, light Flemish says from the revived sayetteries, which had become the principal textile industry of the southern Low Countries. The paper concludes by examining the various factors and forces that led to a fall in transport and transaction costs in the international textile trades, via the overland routes, including river routes, between north-west Europe and the Mediterranean basin from the later 15th to early 17th centuries (i.e. to the eve of the Thirty Years War, which again seriously disrupted the overland, continental routes).

The Low Countries' Export Trade in Textiles with the Mediterranean Basin, 1200–1600: A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Comparative Advantages in Overland and Maritime Trade Routes

This paper challenges the conventional wisdom in European economic history that long-distance maritime transport was always more cost-effective than overland trade routes. Thus the majority of historians in the past century have attributed the rapid decline of the medieval Champagne Fairs, governing the textile trades between the Low Countries, northern France, and Italy, to the establishment of an effective and permanent' direct sea-route between Italy and north-west Europe from the early 14th century (though the first, a Genoese galley, can be dated to 1277). The paper concludes by examining the various factors and forces that led to a fall in transport and transaction costs in the international textile trades, via the overland routes, including river routes, between north-west Europe and the Mediterranean basin from the later 15th to early 17th centuries.

Récentes découvertes sur l'île de Marmara (Proconnèse) à l'époque byzantine

Thanks to the research carnea out the last three years at Ganos on the amphorae workshops in the Byzantine period, we have clarified several questions on the history and the maritime trading routes of the région. Strabon (VII, 5, 8) reports that the small Greek colony of Ganos (today Gazikoy - town ofTekirdag), was founded in this region in the lst century BC. In the Middle Ages, the mountain οf Ganos was called « Ieron Oros » (sacred mountain) ; the sailors passing through the straits made pilgrimages there. Its monasteries were as famous as those of Olympus, Bithynia and Mount Athos. Occupation ofthe région was continuous throughout the thousand years covering the Byzantine period and this is confirmed by the discovery of the potteries. Our interest in the région is in the Type 1 amphorae (see my typology), which are known from the Serçe Limant wreck. We have discovered, from the geophysical research ο f recent years, at least thirty ovens having produced this type of pottery. I believe there are about a hundred of them. Thèse amphoras were not only widely used in Constantinople but also in the towns on the Black Sea. The only means for these amphoras to reach these places was through the Bosphorus. Taking into account that thè islands in thè Sea of Mormora were the only possible ports of call and often blown by a very strong north wind, I assumed it would be possible to find wrecks loaded with amphorae of Ganos in thè surrounding area. The diving carried out around the island of Marmara in september 1993 confirmed this hypothesis. Wefound six wrecks containing Ganos amphoras, one of which contained thousands of them. Until today, we had never seen such a vast load from the Byzantine period. In a seventh wreck, we identified the last amphoras in history (Types III-IV in my typology), before the use ofcasks. The eight was loaded with fiat proto-Byzantine tiles. The objectives of my paper are to inform you ο f these finds and to consider the problems posed by their exploitation.

Punta Canbalam in Context

AbstractInvestigations at Punta Canbalam on the Gulf Coast of Campeche reveal it is probably the largest of several important but underreported trading sites on the pan-Mesoamerican maritime trade route. The coastline has been unstable for the last thousand years, subjecting the site to sea level changes and repeated episodes of beach erosion and redeposition. The relatively dense scatter of temporally mixed, highly weathered sherds and other artifacts on an exceedingly narrow, modern beach indicates that it is all secondarily deposited and that its original location was offshore. An interdisciplinary team is beginning to recognize clues in its environmental and cultural contexts as to where this peripatetic site was originally located and the extent to which it depended upon exchanges of salt, petty commodities from inland, and canoe-borne exotics from afar. This predominantly Terminal Classic and Early Postclassic site likely served as a port of entry for obsidian, jade, fine-paste ceramics, and other goods for the nearby inland city of Chunchucmil. It also probably supplied the interior with marine and estuarine food and ornamental and ritual products in exchange for inland agricultural products and other items.