Editorial

5 pages, 209 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Ship Archaeology and Material Culture: Artifacts, Representations, Structures, Narratives, and Materialities (16th–19th Centuries)

by Ana Crespo-Solana and Tania Manuel Casimiro

Heritage 2023, 6(6), 4509-4513; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage6060238 - 26 May 2023

Viewed by 1343

Abstract

This Special Issue is a compilation of studies on underwater and maritime sites related to Early Modern ships and shipwrecks. [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ship Archaeology and Material Culture: Artifacts, Representations, Structures, Narratives, Materialities (16th-19th Centuries))

Research

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14 pages, 4157 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Remains of a Manila Galleon Compass: 16th-Century Nautical Material Culture

by Flor Trejo Rivera and Roberto Junco Sánchez

Heritage 2023, 6(5), 4173-4186; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage6050219 - 05 May 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1799

Abstract

This article reveals the recovery of a compass balance from a Manila galleon that was wrecked in the 16th century off the coast of Baja California, Mexico, and discusses the possibility that it was made in Spain. Based on an analysis of navigation [...] Read more.

This article reveals the recovery of a compass balance from a Manila galleon that was wrecked in the 16th century off the coast of Baja California, Mexico, and discusses the possibility that it was made in Spain. Based on an analysis of navigation treaties, written in the context of the training of pilots by the Casa de Contratación (House of Trade), it is revealed in detail how nautical compasses were manufactured in Spain during that period. As a result of the review of the nautical literature of that century, it is concluded that the compass was the most important nautical instrument on board and that its simple design allowed any malfunction to be resolved during the journey. In addition, the authors affirm that the design of this compass was very similar to those suggested in the European navigation traditions of the 16th century, and thus, it seems quite possible that the compass rocker found in Baja California was made in the Hispanic world. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ship Archaeology and Material Culture: Artifacts, Representations, Structures, Narratives, Materialities (16th-19th Centuries))

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26 pages, 93505 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Ballasting a Mid-19th Century Chilean Navy Armed Transport: Archaeometallurgical Insights into Cast Iron Ingots Recovered from the Barque Infatigable (1855)

by Diego Carabias, Nicolás C. Ciarlo, Carolina Araya, Carla Morales and Felipe Gutiérrez

Heritage 2023, 6(2), 2126-2151; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage6020114 - 19 Feb 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2494

Abstract

Ballast is essential for vessels to lower their centre of gravity, improve stability, and ease their motion during sailing. During the modern period, heavy materials used for ballasting ships were an issue of particular concern for both authorities and ship owners, subjected to [...] Read more.

Ballast is essential for vessels to lower their centre of gravity, improve stability, and ease their motion during sailing. During the modern period, heavy materials used for ballasting ships were an issue of particular concern for both authorities and ship owners, subjected to increasing control, regulation, and standardisation. These items represent a very common find in wreck sites and deserve special attention, as their characteristics, distribution, and provenance can deliver critical information for assessing where the vessel was ballasted, sailing routes, ship tonnage, and site formation processes. This article is centred on pig iron ingots, introduced in the early 18th century in sailing warships and shortly thereafter in sizeable merchant vessels, a type of ballast which is frequently overlooked in archaeological research. In particular, specimens retrieved from the Chilean Navy armed transport Infatigable (1855) were analysed through macroscopic and physicochemical characterisation using LM, SEM-EDS, WD-XRF, and IGF. The results obtained indicate the ingots were manufactured with cast iron of different quality, suggesting they may have come from different production centres. The investigation resulted in a better understanding of ballasting practices on a South American navy ship in the early post-independence period and provided new data for discussions of off-site and non-nautical technological issues, such as the materials, knowledge, and techniques associated with the production of pig iron in the mid-19th century. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ship Archaeology and Material Culture: Artifacts, Representations, Structures, Narratives, Materialities (16th-19th Centuries))

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22 pages, 5797 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

The Ribadeo I Shipwreck, Galleon “San Giacomo di Galizia”—From Excavation to Interpretation

by Filipe Castro, Miguel San Claudio Santa Cruz, Nigel Nayling and Adolfo Miguel Martins

Heritage 2023, 6(2), 2079-2100; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage6020112 - 17 Feb 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1763

Abstract

The Ribadeo shipwreck, identified as the San Giacomo di Galizia, lost in 1597 at Ribadeo, Galicia, Spain, is a unique example of a late 16th century Spanish warship. Brought to Ribadeo in the winter of 1597, this ship was salvaged, all the crew [...] Read more.

The Ribadeo shipwreck, identified as the San Giacomo di Galizia, lost in 1597 at Ribadeo, Galicia, Spain, is a unique example of a late 16th century Spanish warship. Brought to Ribadeo in the winter of 1597, this ship was salvaged, all the crew saved, and its remains abandoned. It was found in November 2011 during dredging operations, and it has been studied since. Excavated slowly at the pace allowed by the conservation budget, this site is revealing its secrets as the excavation progresses. This paper is an introduction to the ship’s history and a first report on the archaeological excavation of its hull remains. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ship Archaeology and Material Culture: Artifacts, Representations, Structures, Narratives, Materialities (16th-19th Centuries))

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23 pages, 4855 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Post-Medieval Wrecks in the Western Mediterranean and Pottery: The Mortella II Wreck (1527) and the Chronology of Montelupo Tin-Glazed Earthenware

by Marco Milanese

Heritage 2023, 6(2), 2056-2078; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage6020111 - 16 Feb 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1273

Abstract

This paper discusses and underlines the importance of investigations on post-medieval shipwrecks, particularly for wrecks where archival documentation is also available, in relation to gaining a better knowledge of tin-glazed tableware produced in Montelupo (Florence, Tuscany). The case of the Mortella II wrecks [...] Read more.

This paper discusses and underlines the importance of investigations on post-medieval shipwrecks, particularly for wrecks where archival documentation is also available, in relation to gaining a better knowledge of tin-glazed tableware produced in Montelupo (Florence, Tuscany). The case of the Mortella II wrecks is interesting in this sense and also shows how an exact dating of the wreck can allow for a revision of the chronologies of the ceramic classes found on board. In the case of the majolica of Montelupo, the revision of the dating of these ceramics with great diffusion (Europe, Americas, Africa) has major repercussions on international archaeological research. This paper presents a preliminary study of the Montelupo tin-glazed tableware found in the 2021 excavation researches conducted on the Mortella II wreck. The interest in the pottery recovered is high, for several reasons: (A) The dating of the wreck to 1527, clarified thanks to the discovery of a written document related to the sinking of the two Genoese “twin” ships off Saint-Florent (Haute-Corse), which are conventionally defined as Mortella II and III. (B) The almost exclusive presence of Montelupo majolica, a ceramic class among the most important between the 16th and 17th centuries, with a very wide dispersal throughout in the Mediterranean and Europe, as well as internationally. (C) The variety of decorations of the majolica of Montelupo documented thus far in the wreck (at least nine) makes this first sample a reference site for the study of this ceramic class in the first quarter of the 16th century, especially for the precise date of closure for the context (1527). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ship Archaeology and Material Culture: Artifacts, Representations, Structures, Narratives, Materialities (16th-19th Centuries))

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18 pages, 17341 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Life on Board Portuguese Ships in the 16th–18th Centuries: Theorizing Households through History and Archaeology

by Tânia Manuel Casimiro and Marco Oliveira Borges

Heritage 2023, 6(2), 2020-2037; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage6020109 - 15 Feb 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 4022

Abstract

Recognizing and defining behaviors is among the most challenging objectives of writing narratives about the past, especially when direct testimony and the evidence of agents’ actions are long lost. Typically, archaeologists look at material remains to reconstruct daily activities, while historians read and [...] Read more.

Recognizing and defining behaviors is among the most challenging objectives of writing narratives about the past, especially when direct testimony and the evidence of agents’ actions are long lost. Typically, archaeologists look at material remains to reconstruct daily activities, while historians read and interpret documents that articulate how agents interacted with their surroundings. Following an interdisciplinary approach combining archaeology and history, the purpose of this paper is to reconstruct how different types of agents co-existed on board Portuguese ships in the Early Modern Age, and how those relations can be interpreted as a household. These ships sailed across different oceans with different purposes and destinations, carrying people, animals, and things, all of which had a level of agency. All these agents led to the development of specific relations and ways of being, characterizing the particular dynamics and associations during voyages. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ship Archaeology and Material Culture: Artifacts, Representations, Structures, Narratives, Materialities (16th-19th Centuries))

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22 pages, 4908 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The “San Giacomo di Galizia” Warship Galleon (1597)—Building Narratives through an Archaeological and Historical Reading of the Ribadeo I Shipwreck

by Tânia Manuel Casimiro, Sagrario Martínez-Ramirez, Ana Crespo-Solana, Miguel San Claudio Santa Cruz and Inês Almendra Castro

Heritage 2023, 6(2), 1732-1753; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage6020092 - 06 Feb 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2673

Abstract

Early November 1597. After an intense combat with four enemy ships, San Giacomo di Galizia (also known as Santiago), a just over 1000-ton galleon, enters the Ribadeo harbour in a terrible state, where it wrecks. This war vessel had been built in [...] Read more.

Early November 1597. After an intense combat with four enemy ships, San Giacomo di Galizia (also known as Santiago), a just over 1000-ton galleon, enters the Ribadeo harbour in a terrible state, where it wrecks. This war vessel had been built in Naples in 1590 and sailed the Mediterranean and the Atlantic until it sank. In late November 2011, during an archaeological survey of the dredge area to improve the navigation of the ports in Galicia, a large ship was found and identified as the San Giacomo, which wrecked 414 years prior to its discovery. Several archaeological campaigns permitted a thorough record of the wreck and the recovery of hundreds of objects which this ship carried on its final journey. These artefacts included ceramics, metalwork, and wood, objects which reflected the activities that occurred on board during its short life. Combining an interdisciplinary approach based on artefacts, documents, and chemical analysis, the aim of this paper is to, on the one hand, attempt to reconstruct the sailing itinerary of the ship over its period of use and, on the other, to discuss how these commodities can help to write new narratives about the activities which occurred on board. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ship Archaeology and Material Culture: Artifacts, Representations, Structures, Narratives, Materialities (16th-19th Centuries))

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32 pages, 4628 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Agency and Structure in Shipbuilding: Practice and Social Learning Perspectives

by Charles D. Bendig and Marijo Gauthier-Bérubé

Heritage 2023, 6(2), 1444-1475; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage6020079 - 31 Jan 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2085

Abstract

Shipbuilding is inherently a social process involving numerous craftsmen utilizing their knowledge and skills while working together to produce a complex machine. The construction of a ship traditionally relies on a stratified apprenticeship system that entails a master teaching apprentices their trade. In [...] Read more.

Shipbuilding is inherently a social process involving numerous craftsmen utilizing their knowledge and skills while working together to produce a complex machine. The construction of a ship traditionally relies on a stratified apprenticeship system that entails a master teaching apprentices their trade. In this type of setting, the shipyard becomes the classroom where the younger generations learn and mimic mannerisms from their instructors. The development of this technique is considered an individual practice, which, with other construction methodologies and shared interactions, becomes social structures within a specific society. Repetition of this type of practice may reaffirm the existing structure, which in this article relates to various communities of shipbuilders. This paper addresses shipbuilding’s social perspective through an operational process based on surviving shipwreck timbers. Two case studies are addressed: Mediterranean shipbuilding between the Medieval and Modern periods and a case study of late 17th-century French shipbuilding social organization. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ship Archaeology and Material Culture: Artifacts, Representations, Structures, Narratives, Materialities (16th-19th Centuries))

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10 pages, 943 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Meat Supplies at the Ribadeo I Shipwreck (San Giacomo di Galizia galleon): Preliminary Results from Three Small Faunal Samples

by Marta Moreno-García, Miguel San Claudio Santa Cruz and Ana Crespo Solana

Heritage 2023, 6(2), 1118-1127; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage6020062 - 26 Jan 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1810

Abstract

The 78 faunal remains recovered from the Ribadeo I shipwreck, identified as the San Giacomo di Galizia galleon found at the Ribadeo estuary of north-west Spain, represent a very small part of the meaty provisions that this 16th-century warship would have originally carried [...] Read more.

The 78 faunal remains recovered from the Ribadeo I shipwreck, identified as the San Giacomo di Galizia galleon found at the Ribadeo estuary of north-west Spain, represent a very small part of the meaty provisions that this 16th-century warship would have originally carried on board. Cattle, sheep, pig, goose and hake are the species identified in the three samples analysed. The number of cattle bulk-meat cuts from the axial skeleton and fore/hind leg quarters suggest beef was an important source of protein for the crew, with mutton and pork occupying a secondary position. Aging data demonstrate the consumption of meat from sub-adult and young individuals while the frequency and location of butchery marks indicate extensive processing of the carcasses into small manageable portions, particularly in the case of cattle. Recovery of a goose tarsometatarsus (low-yield meat bone) may point to live poultry on board, while a hake vertebra evidences the likely provision of stockfish. In sum, the archaeozoological analysis provides interesting information to gain some knowledge on foodways and the types of meat available on board this Spanish galleon. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ship Archaeology and Material Culture: Artifacts, Representations, Structures, Narratives, Materialities (16th-19th Centuries))

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20 pages, 25730 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Ribadeo I Wreck—Multi-Year Photogrammetric Survey of a Spanish Galleon of the Second Armada

by Brandon Mason, Christin Heamagi and Nigel Nayling

Heritage 2023, 6(2), 1069-1088; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage6020059 - 25 Jan 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1522

Abstract

There are multiple approaches to bridging the gap between the relatively new world of three-dimensional survey and so-called reality-capture with traditional recording conventions and archaeological interpretative processes, challenges that have been encountered during the various fieldwork campaigns undertaken on the Ribadeo I wreck. [...] Read more.

There are multiple approaches to bridging the gap between the relatively new world of three-dimensional survey and so-called reality-capture with traditional recording conventions and archaeological interpretative processes, challenges that have been encountered during the various fieldwork campaigns undertaken on the Ribadeo I wreck. Questions discussed in this paper include: does every team member need to be a 3D expert? Does a 3D specialist need to be an archaeologist? Is it enough to have a specialist 3D ‘navigator’, someone who can drive the software through the data and act as a guide to a wider team to deliver their own interpretation of the evidence? When conventional outputs are required, including plans, sections, profiles and other nautical-specific views, how can these be efficiently generated from the available photogrammetry and presented to provide comparable information to those who speak and require this type of visual language? This paper does not provide simple or definitive answers to these questions. However, the work undertaken so far on Ribadeo I can offer some contributions to current discussions and consider the challenges within the context of an internationally important shipwreck and work that is necessarily limited by available time and funds. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ship Archaeology and Material Culture: Artifacts, Representations, Structures, Narratives, Materialities (16th-19th Centuries))

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41 pages, 11566 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Mortella II Wreck, a Genoese Merchantman Sunk in 1527 in Corsica (Saint-Florent, France): A Preliminary Assessment of the Site, Hull Structures and Artefacts

by Arnaud Cazenave de la Roche and Fabrizio Ciacchella

Heritage 2023, 6(2), 1028-1068; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage6020058 - 25 Jan 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1871

Abstract

This article presents the results of a preliminary archaeological operation carried out in 2021 on the Mortella II wreck. It was designed as a continuation and complement to the excavation of the Mortella III wreck that was performed between 2010 and 2019 and [...] Read more.

This article presents the results of a preliminary archaeological operation carried out in 2021 on the Mortella II wreck. It was designed as a continuation and complement to the excavation of the Mortella III wreck that was performed between 2010 and 2019 and to which it is historically linked: both ships were Genoese merchantmen sailing together, which sank in 1527 in the context of the 7th Italian War between France and Spain. The paper takes up the main outcomes of the lines of research on shipbuilding and artefacts (anchors and artillery). It discusses their characteristics, comparing them to other wrecks of similar Mediterranean origin. In this way, this work seeks to contribute to the knowledge of Mediterranean shipbuilding and the material culture of the Renaissance, which is currently little known. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ship Archaeology and Material Culture: Artifacts, Representations, Structures, Narratives, Materialities (16th-19th Centuries))

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24 pages, 10888 KiB

Open AccessArticle

From the Sea to the Land: An Archaeological Study of Iberian Footwear during the Early Modern Period

by Carla Alferes Pinto, Ana Catarina Garcia and Íris Fragoso

Heritage 2023, 6(2), 867-890; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage6020048 - 20 Jan 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1390

Abstract

The study of Early Modern Iberian footwear is taking its first steps. Both historiography and archaeological research have devoted little attention to this issue and organic remains found in excavation even tend to be discarded. This paper will address the results of DRESS [...] Read more.

The study of Early Modern Iberian footwear is taking its first steps. Both historiography and archaeological research have devoted little attention to this issue and organic remains found in excavation even tend to be discarded. This paper will address the results of DRESS project’s questioning about courtly footwear, whose research benefited from a multidisciplinary team that included archaeologists familiar with the assemblages from which it was still possible to recover remains for analysis. The data provided and analysed starts with the study of the footwear evidence found in the Angra D shipwreck (Azores), a 16th century site. However, we soon noticed that this isolated study did not comprehensively provide information on the subject and two other intertidal archaeological sites were added: assemblages from Santa Clara-a-Velha (Poor Clares) Monastery in Coimbra (late 16th and 17th century), situated on the south bank of the Mondego River, and archaeological remains from the Campo das Cebolas (Old Market), on Lisbon waterfront (16th–17th century). Data from three archaeological sites were collected, drawn, and analysed, and a comparative methodology was applied. In the absence of syntheses for Iberian world, we used both critical bibliographies pertaining to North European collections and visual parallels, resulting on the first typological series of Iberian footwear. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ship Archaeology and Material Culture: Artifacts, Representations, Structures, Narratives, Materialities (16th-19th Centuries))

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20 pages, 1527 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Archaeological Classification of Age of Sail Shipwrecks Based on Genever’s Material Culture

by Charlotte Jarvis

Heritage 2023, 6(1), 397-416; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage6010021 - 31 Dec 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2009

Abstract

This article analyses archaeological evidence for jenever (spelled genever in English) in the Dutch Republic during the Age of Sail (1550–1850). Although excessive alcohol consumption among mariners is a stereotype, there has been surprisingly little critical scholarly work on the subject. Genever was [...] Read more.

This article analyses archaeological evidence for jenever (spelled genever in English) in the Dutch Republic during the Age of Sail (1550–1850). Although excessive alcohol consumption among mariners is a stereotype, there has been surprisingly little critical scholarly work on the subject. Genever was used on ships for medicinal purposes during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but no thorough analysis of alcohol consumption broadly in a Dutch (VOC, WIC, Admiralty) maritime context has been done to date. Since the Dutch stored genever in a distinctive bottle, the archaeological record is helpful to examine Dutch ship’s genever consumption. This article theorises that material evidence of genever for personal consumption and as a commodity for export can be used to aid in identifying a shipwreck’s nationality, and that hypothesis is tested through analysis of a sample of European wrecks excavated along the global shipping routes of Dutch commercial and naval sailing vessels. There is a strong correlation between the presence of both case bottles (kelderflessen) and, later in the period, stoneware bottles (jeneverkruiken) with Dutch shipwrecks or maritime archaeology sites and this is strongly suggested to consider for archaeologists faced with a shipwreck of unknown origin. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ship Archaeology and Material Culture: Artifacts, Representations, Structures, Narratives, Materialities (16th-19th Centuries))

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16 pages, 3075 KiB

Open AccessArticle

What Is There to Do If You Find an Old Indian Canoe? Anti-Colonialism in Maritime Archaeology

by Sara A. Rich, Cheryl Sievers-Cail and Khamal Patterson

Heritage 2022, 5(4), 3664-3679; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage5040191 - 24 Nov 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2340

Abstract

Following Max Liboiron’s claim that pollution is colonialism, the anti-colonial maritime archaeologist’s role in the Anthropocene might be to reframe research questions, so that focus is directed toward interactions between marine and maritime, and that the colonial ‘resurrectionist’ approach that has dominated nautical [...] Read more.

Following Max Liboiron’s claim that pollution is colonialism, the anti-colonial maritime archaeologist’s role in the Anthropocene might be to reframe research questions, so that focus is directed toward interactions between marine and maritime, and that the colonial ‘resurrectionist’ approach that has dominated nautical archaeology ought to be reconsidered altogether. This normative statement is put to the test with a 4000-year-old waterlogged dugout canoe that was illegally excavated from the Cooper River in South Carolina, USA. Upon retrieval, the affected tribal entities were brought into consultation with archaeologists and conservators to help decide how to proceed with the canoe’s remains. Tribal representatives reached a consensus to preserve the canoe with PEG and display it in a public museum. This procedure follows the resurrectionist model typical of maritime archaeology in the West, now the dominant protocol globally, where the scholar acts as savior by lifting entire wrecks from watery graves and promising to grant them immortality in utopian museum spaces. However, this immortalizing procedure is at odds with some Indigenous values, voiced by tribal representatives, which embrace life cycles and distributed agency. In the end, the desire to preserve the canoe as a perpetual symbol of intertribal unity dominated concerns surrounding the canoe’s own life, spirit, and autonomy, and that plasticizing it would permanently alter its substance and essence. We argue that the object of the canoe has become subservient to its postcolonial symbolism of Indigenous unity, resilience, and resistance. Further, by subscribing to the resurrectionist model of maritime archaeology, the immortalized canoe now bears the irony of colonial metaphor, as an unintended consequence of its preservation. We echo Audre Lorde’s famous sentiment by wondering if an anticolonial maritime archaeology can ever hope to dismantle the master’s boat using the master’s tools. The conclusions reached here have implications for other maritime and museum contexts too, including the highly publicized case of the wrecked 1859–1860 slave ship, Clotilda. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ship Archaeology and Material Culture: Artifacts, Representations, Structures, Narratives, Materialities (16th-19th Centuries))

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