Archaeology and the social history of ships.

BREEN, COLIN

RICHARD A. GOULD. Archaeology and the social history of ships, xiv+360 pages, 83 figures, 3 tables. 2000. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 0521-56103-5 hardback 45 [pounds sterling] & 16.95 [pounds sterling], 0-521-567B9-0 paperback US$74.95 & US$29.95.

This book serves as a useful introduction to the study of ships as cultural monuments. The author provides a comprehensive global overview of a large number of the better-known shipwreck sites that have been archaeologically investigated. The author's anthropological expertise is immediately identifiable as he attempts to link the physical underwater sites to their broader socio-economic and political environment. In doing so he moves away from simply regarding sites as underwater monuments towards their contextualization in their natural and cultural environment. Gould also departs from the analysis of a wreck as a single temporal event to an examination of the complete process of wrecking from the initial construction of the ship through to its subsequent deposition on the seabed.

The first two chapters of the volume introduce some of the theoretical principles underlying the subject and the practice of archaeology underwater. While the author is especially strong on the theoretical approach to the subject, the chapter on underwater practice neglects much of the advances in professional marine surveying and technologies that have emerged over the last two decades. The section on surface supplied equipment and diver survey appear to show a lack of familiarity with modern commercial equipment. This of course could be related to the general under-funding of underwater archaeological projects.

The book then introduces the basic mechanics of ship operation before moving on to trace the development of boats and ships on a chronological basis. This analysis forms the core of the book beginning with the evidence for early watercraft such as skin boats, dugouts and planked Boats before addressing the emergence of the earliest known ships in Egypt. Gould rightly cautions against archaeologists' everpresent need to seek the earliest of any monument type, arguing instead that researchers should concentrate on attempting to understand the many socio-cultural processes that led to the emergence and development of particular monument types, in this case ships. A chapter on shipwrecks and ancient trade is a welcome inclusion to this volume. Using two case studies, the author demonstrates the importance of maritime trade in the Mediterranean and navigation and trade in the Western Pacific from an ethnographic perspective. The Mediterranean study focuses on the Bronze Age wreck sites at Ulu Burun and Cape Gelidony, two pioneering excavations which demonstrate that systematic scientific excavation can be carried out underwater and produce extremely important results.

Later chapters deal with the ships of the medieval and post-medieval periods. Chapters are also devoted to sailing and military vessels of the 19th and 20th centuries. The inclusion of these two centuries in an archaeological publication might be questioned by some. Maritime archaeologists, particularly American researchers, have been to the forefront of demonstrating the importance of material culture in the later historical periods and Gould has thankfully continued this trend. Pearl Harbour (1941), which he includes, constitutes one of the most important surviving historical archaeological sites of the 20th century.

This book will be of interest to a general and academic audience, serving as a valuable synthesis of known excavated sites. It should be included as a core text for any university archaeology programme. There is, however, little new information in the book. This is not necessarily a criticism of the author, but rather reflects an absence of the widespread publication of much of the new research that is taking place. In this respect it would be encouraging to see more published maritime research in many of the better known journals and not confined to specialist publications. It is probably also indicative of a movement away from the actual excavation of sites to their preservation and conservation in situ. This is a laudable objective but one wonders if research into the archaeology of watercraft can sustain itself without a certain amount of continual intrusive investigation. Maritime archaeology as a discipline must also rid itself of the perception that it only concerns itself with the study of shipwrecks. The introductory text on the back cover of the book states that `Maritime archaeology deals with shipwrecks and is carried out by divers rather than diggers'. Wrecks are only one component of the cultural landscape in the maritime zone and further studies should concentrate on developing more integrated maritime research programmes dealing with this landscape.

COLIN BREEN
Centre for Maritime Archaeology
University of Ulster
cp.breen@ulst.ac.uk