Maritime Archaeology
Maritime archaeology is the subdiscipline of
archaeology that focuses on human interactions with the sea, lakes, and
rivers. Historically, the exploitation
of marine resources and travel by water was often a key aspect of human
adaptation. Coastal lagoons, navigable
rivers and sea crossings formed the trade routes of ancient civilizations and
over the past five hundred years, sea routes played a central role in trade
patterns and the Columbian exchanges that shaped the modern world. Given the Department of Anthropology’s focus on
the period of European expansion, faculty and graduate student research
projects in maritime archaeology have focused on sites relating to the emerging
Atlantic World. Examples of project
include island communities, such as the East End (St. John, US Virgin Islands);
the African settlement of Elmina (Ghana); Bunce Island (Sierra Leone); and the
European shipwreck sites (Ghana and Sierra Leone). Our studies also
explorations of maritime merchant sites in port towns (Magans and Bankhus, St.
Thomas, US Virgin Islands) and explorations of the material record of regional
and global maritime trade. Graduate
students with a focus on maritime archaeology receive the same, holistic
grounding in anthropology as other students in the program, their research focusing
on the cultural, social, and economic between communities on land and the
maritime environment. A closely related
field to maritime archaeology is underwater archaeology, a subdiscipline of
archaeology that deals with study of submerged remains be they of
maritime interest or not. Diver certification and SCUBA diving classes
can be taken through Syracuse University.
However, the Department of Anthropology does not offer training in
underwater archaeology, but rather the understanding of shipwreck sites,
harbors, and anchorages and wharf systems as parts of the maritime landscape
that humans interacted with.