This issue’s New Book Chronicle looks at recent excavations and projects under water, which from the mid-twentieth century involved the systematic investigation of shipwrecks that, often, were historically subject to looting and treasure hunting. This branch of archaeology has long since developed beyond that and now includes prehistoric sites and landscapes, which were dry in the past but inundated and are now covered by lakes, wet sites, tidal waters and the sea. The wet environment is the biggest challenge for these projects and the reason for the enormous costs involved when compared with terrestrial archaeology. Extraordinary finds of well-preserved organic materials make it worth the effort and high budgets, but careful planning about where to excavate is always a primary concern for any project.

The four publications presented here are examples of current projects and trends in maritime and underwater archaeology. The first is a conference volume called Delivering the deep: maritime archaeology for the 21st century, which showcases a multifaceted sample of what is being studied in the field with various approaches as to what questions can be asked and answered. The conference invited scholars to think about the potential of underwater archaeology for future research. This is much in line with the next reviewed book Submerged prehistory in the Americas: methods, approaches and results, which concentrates on submerged landscapes in the Americas and offers a practical guide on what is possible and what other venues could be explored in future. An archaeology of piracy has also been developed over the past 30 years and Dead man’s chest: exploring the archaeology of piracy assesses what has been achieved so far, in terms of whether pirates can be discerned in the archaeological record (not as the popular opinion might suggest through wooden legs and eye patches!). Similar in many research aspects to Dead man’s chest is the last book looking at one shipwreck in detail, The Swash Channel wreck: an archaeological investigation of a 17th-century armed Dutch merchantman. It is a more typical marine archaeology project, yet it has some uncommon traits; it is about a ship sailing at the same time as pirates were operating, which would have likely been involved in campaigns against them. The discussions on the protection and excavation as well as the detective work in the historical archives is of course similar to that undertaken on the pirate ships.

All books go beyond their immediate aims and also evaluate their projects and research topics in terms of where we are now and what comes next. This approach seems to be more strongly ingrained in underwater archaeology, possibly due to the more challenging and expensive undertakings ensuring that there is more careful consideration into where and what to study.

Kristin Ilves, Veronica Walker Vadillo & Katerina Velentza (ed.). 2024. Delivering the deep: maritime archaeology for the 21st century: selected papers from IKUWA 7 (British Archaeological Reports International Series 3170). Oxford: BAR; 978-1-4073-6147-5 paperback £65 ebook OpenAccess https://doi.org/10.30861/9781407361475

This conference volume brings together the many facets of maritime archaeology, showcased through 20 international contributions, from the Seventh International Congress for Underwater Archaeology held in 2022 in Helsinki, Finland. The conference title ‘Delivering the deep—visions for the future’ invited scholars to think about the position of maritime and underwater archaeology in their research, and most contributions selected for this volume address this vision in part. The main geographical focus is on Europe, with a few outliers, and research topics ranging from prehistory to the twentieth century. The book is organised in five sections with four chapters in each.

‘Maritime cultural landscapes and maritime communities’ is the first section where the importance of a holistic interpretation and the combing of material from land and underwater sites is seen as the way forward, which is similar to the discussions in the next book. Here emphasised through studies on over 30 logboats from Lough Corrib (Ireland) as vital transport vessels between land and water; the coastal settlement dynamics of Greek and Roman communities on Adriatic islands, with a focus on ports, trade and human activities; fishing communities in Cyprus from Neolithic to Early Christian times and how this connects humans to the coastal landscape; and Early Bronze Age pile dwelling sites on the western Black Sea coast from which ecological and cultural changes can be observed—in a contribution that is lavishly illustrated.

The section on ‘Interpreting maritime objects and representations’ is an important addition because only a few object types, such as the logboats, survive the passage of time. Images are therefore studied to broaden our understanding of the maritime world. The examples given here range from: hunter-gatherer-fisher boats in Russian rock art where different kinds of watercraft and paddles with different functions can be identified and suggest the past use of similar-looking boats; Roman ship reliefs and their symbolic value as high achievements of Roman engineering; connections between ship iconography and Christian saints; and how the loss and rediscovery of ancient sculptures affected human emotions through time. All amplify the importance of these sources to be incorporated in the wider discussions of past lives near the water.

The most-studied aspect of this field and starting point of maritime investigations is no doubt ‘The archaeology of ships and boats’. And the section highlights this with innovative studies on boat-building traditions such as on: the Norwegian Late Iron Age, which can be traced through looking at bog finds of mainly sewn planking boats; the underlying connections of nautical design and social stratification, with the example of a late fifteenth century warship, the ‘floating castle’ of King Hans; the difficulty of sequencing constructions and repairs on shipwrecks, here on a late sixteenth-century ship; and further repairs and maintenance aspects of the Byzantine ships discovered in the Theodosian Harbor of Constantinople (Yenikapı, Türkiye).

The fourth section is called ‘Interpreting underwater archaeological sites’ and looks at unusual (ship)wrecks including: the maritime ‘battlefield’ of Cartagena (modern Colombia), where in 1741 the British Navy was defeated, the archaeological remains are set in the context of the environment and geomorphology to evaluate war tactics and strategies; the investigation of part of a shipwreck with remaining cargo, such as glassbeads and copper-alloy rods, in the Frisian North Sea, which was dated to the eighteenth century and can be connected to the trade networks of resources and slaves; merchant vessels off the English coast, sunk during the First World War; and the recovery of a Fairey Barracuda plane sunk off the coast of England, near its Royal Navy Air Station during the Second World War.

The final section is on the important protection of often threatened maritime sites and combines studies on ‘Underwater cultural heritage management and public engagement’. The four contributions highlight this through: how wrecks around the Irish coasts are impacted by climate change and with it changing environmental factors as well as strategies for their future recording and protection; public engagement through an astutely developed interactive virtual tour of underwater remains from the D-Day landings; a review of preventive underwater cultural heritage management in France and how this has protected sites from regional planning and developers’ projects; and the final contribution invites the reader to think of shipwrecks and sunken sites as inspirations for poetry and describes the outcomes of a poetry workshop at the conference.

The reader will find many diverse facets of underwater archaeology in this book, which makes it difficult to review in brief, yet it successfully showcases the rich plethora of possible venues and research questions. All contributions apply some level of interdisciplinarity, which is demonstrated as being necessary for meaningful interpretations and developing the sub-field of maritime archaeology further to a fully fledged field in its own right, with set research agendas that link in with broader questions in archaeology and our human past. Many contributions present innovative ideas on exploring and connecting different fields and applying enhanced technology to suggest new questions to interrogate the material. Not a book to be read in one go, but to dip in and out of and to delve into to explore different aspects, which is made very easy owing to its availability as open access online. The editors have done a great job in setting the diverse contributions in a broader framework, which helps readers to gain a deeper understanding of current trends in maritime archaeology and consider possibilities for future endeavours as well as raising awareness of the heightened fragility of this kind of cultural heritage due to climate change.

John M. O’Shea (ed.). 2023. Submerged prehistory in the Americas: methods, approaches and results. Abingdon & New York (NY): Routledge; 978-1-032-44227-3 hardback £135.

This volume comprises nine chapters that detail the history of underwater archaeology and anthropology in North America and they deliver examples on how to make the investigation of submerged sites more systematic and comparable with sites on dry land and therefore more relevant for wider interpretations. Guidance and ideas on how to further this research approach is provided, with an emphasis on its rich potential for meaningful results. In his Introduction, John O’Shea highlights the difference between excavating a shipwreck—which is the more popular type of underwater archaeology and closely tied in with historical questions—and a submerged prehistoric landscape—whose scope and discovery so far lack formal research concepts and training availability in North America. This kind of investigation is more advanced in other parts of the world, though there is great potential in the Americas but only few results showcase this. This lacuna led to discussions and subsequently to the compilation of this volume, which was first published as a special issue in The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology (vol. 16, 2021) and is printed in this book unaltered.

The first chapter by Ashley Lemke delivers a brief history of the development of the ‘New underwater archaeology’ and its place in the field of anthropology. This raises awareness of the fact that underwater archaeology of submerged sites has delivered a lot of new data but has not yet led to, or been integrated in, developing new anthropological theories. Yet, it has huge potential to do so, as the finds are frequently well preserved, differ from dry land sites and deliver often unexpected data that should give food for thought as is demonstrated here with examples from across the globe on coastal adaptation strategies, seafaring origins and human dispersal. Chapter 2 by Ervan Garrison and Jessica Cook Hale and Chapter 7 by Norman Easton, Charles Moore and Andrew Mason scrutinise the history of underwater or ‘wet-site’ archaeology and outline its development. The first one covers North America from before 1990 and the second surveys the research output along the North Pacific Coast from British Columbia to Alaska. Submerged prehistoric landscapes were only slowly integrated into the broader research agendas, due to challenges such as locating sites and higher costs (than land excavations). Although this sub-field is rapidly developing and new technologies are evolving, gaps and challenges in the research remain.

Two chapters introduce case studies that combine submerged and terrestrial sites and show how important a holistic view of the results can be. Jessi Halligan looks at the sites in/on the Aucilla River (Florida) with evidence of people who have lived here more than 14 000 years, adjusting to the changing environment as visible in the geoarchaeology. A large-scale survey of the area revealed many new sites, allowing predictive modelling for further sites. The few sites that are now inundated by the river, but were dry in the past, deliver extraordinary data, such as early organic artefacts and further stratified and datable material, albeit spot-lighted but in combination with the more numerous terrestrial finds producing important results. The other case study concentrates on the Walker Lake in the Great Basin (Nevada); Neil Puckett provides an example on how we can study human behaviour in a changing landscape, due to the rising and falling water levels of the lake. This demonstrates how a combined archaeology of submerged/terrestrial sites can be successfully employed to show adaptions and changing settlement patterns over a long period of time.

Michael Faught and Morgan Smith compare and analyse seven published research projects that looked for and found Native American precontact sites on the submerged continental shelf. All of the examples applied a systematic and phased geoarchaeological approach and through their evaluation the authors aim to establish strategies to help future research to overcome challenges. I have not come across a similar approach and it is impressive how useful and practical this contribution is, down to the diverse technical methods and support on funding ideas (which in the current political climate may have become even more difficult). O’Shea discusses micro-regional investigation methods and demonstrates, with European examples, the advantages that this approach has when applied on submerged landscapes. This method is then applied to the case study, the Alpena-Amberley Ridge in Lake Huron, which was an exposed land bridge c. 7000–9000 years ago and has been underwater since, where human activity was systematically searched and detected.

Chapter 8, by Shawn Joy, develops a model for human coastal adaption along the North American Atlantic Coast, as potential sites are today 10–100m under water, and the Palaeoindian coast runs from approximately 20km to over 100km from the modern shoreline. Through a global overview on Upper Pleistocene coastal sites, comparable strategies are determined, where human groups moved from the inland and adapted to a coastal life, as is often reflected in a shift in material culture, a change to marine diet and mobility along the coast. The model for existence on the North American Coast suggests that the coastal groups were remarkably different from the known inland groups (visible in lithic tools, with longer-term settlements and shellfish middens).

The concluding chapter by Nicholas Flemming presents a wide view on submerged prehistoric sites with examples from across the globe that have some relevance to the research on the American continental shelves. Flemming’s research helped to locate many of the examples mentioned and the contribution is a shortcut for anyone wanting to learn about what has been done along the continental shelves in brief. He highlights the caveats in the existing models to predict prehistoric settlements, which so far are not successful enough to avoid having to undertake substantial surveys. However, it ends on a positive note for the rich potential in pursuing research of submerged landscapes, especially in the Americas.

This book is for everyone with an interest in underwater archaeology; the many case studies and examples make it an accessible read that convincingly reveals the importance of the sites still hidden under the waters and sediments. This volume achieved what it set out to do and hopefully will inspire more research along the American shelf.

Russell K. Skowronek & Charles R. Ewen (ed.) 2023. Dead man’s chest: exploring the archaeology of piracy. Gainesville: University Press of Florida; 978-0-8130-6974-6 hardback $45.

Russell Skowronek and Charles Ewen, the editors of this book, share a long-held passion for studying the archaeology of piracy. They began in the 1970s at a time when this was considered a niche subject in the emerging importance of historical archaeology and associated more with treasure seekers. Since then, this field has grown significantly into a comprehensive topic and both editors were among those pioneering the search for the real pirates in the archaeological record, and this volume is the third in a series after X marks the spot (Skowronek & Ewen 2006) and Pieces of eight (Ewen & Skowronek 2016). Pirates are often envisioned today in romanticised images of ‘jolly rogues’, mainly familiar through popular media, such as the Hollywood film series Pirates of the Caribbean. But, in his Introduction ‘Opening Salvo’, Ewen rightly asks should we be celebrating and idealising piracy? The main protagonists were lawless murderers and plunderers and were seen as violent criminals and terrorists in their own time. Yet, many famous pirates are treated today as glorified historical figures, which is more than controversial. He concludes that archaeology is a guilt-free way to enjoy piracy.

In this book, the editors gather contributions from across the globe to look at how one can identify piracy and illicit trade as well as learn about the perpetrators’ lives through the material remains; this delivers a different view from considering only historical records, which are mostly descriptions by others. Fourteen chapters are organised in groups on ‘Pirate swag: material culture studies’, ‘Transatlantic piracy’, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean and Terra Firma’ and ‘Pirates of the Indian Ocean’, with the main timeframe being the seventeenth/eighteenth century.

Small finds from Blackbeard’s ship Queen Anne’s Revenge, sunk in 1718, take centre stage; for example, a tiny object comprising an orb and tube made from copper alloy was identified as a whistle, a so-called Boatswain’s Call, and can be linked to potential owners through documents (Kenyon). This and other finds show more of the life on board and glimpses into what pirates stole from other people (such as pocketwatches, personal arms, gold).

The well-combined research of historic documents and nuanced archaeological study lead to solving a past crime and a long-discussed mystery: the first is an early-seventeenth-century shipwreck off the coast of Morgan’s Island, Bermuda, which was destroyed deliberately rather than in a storm; the cargo was salvaged and the crew saved, and then stripped and sunk to look like a shipwreck (Rodgers & Raupp); the second one identifies a shipwreck off Brazil long thought to be a pirate ship as La Louise belonging to La Buse, the pirate Olivier Levasseur, that sank in 1718 (Hostin).

A few topics are explored mainly through textual evidence, which is evaluated for potential future fieldwork. Tortuga (Turtle Island, Republic of Haiti) is one of the most infamous known hideouts for pirates and freebooters, yet, no archaeological investigations have been undertaken on the remote island, though ruins of fortifications and settlement are visible. A look through the archives and outline of the island’s history of occupation highlights the need for fieldwork to study this important site in detail, especially as it is threatened by the looming possibility of construction of a leisure park—pirate themed, no less (Pavlidis). Looking for hidden pirate spots in the Virgin Islands seems to be almost too obvious as many placenames have direct links to pirates, but so far very little fieldwork has been undertaken to prove any connection to real-life pirates (Wild).

As in the other reviewed books, this volume also emphasises connecting the maritime with the terrestrial archaeology to deliver a complete view. A few chapters apply this approach and compare the material culture on the pirate shipwrecks and possible lairs, and highlight that this can only be understood by embedding the interpretation of the finds within the wider colonial archaeology, as piracy of the seventeenth and eighteenth century is a crucial extension, or result of, the political systems at the time (Soulat, de Brey & Soulat). Contrasting the material from two New England fishing settlement sites, mainly the ceramics, with focus on the tavern and domestic areas, revealed the presence of a much wider network in one of the settlements, likely to be connected to illicit trade and smuggling (Rhodes Victor). The review of the remains of the Isle of Lundy, off the Devon Coast, England, does not find any material evidence for pirates, despite a long history of pirate occupation the material found can so far not be distinguished from other settlements (Boyle). The nuanced study of the material excavated at late seventeenth-century coastal settlement at Grand Case Bay, St Martin (French West Indies) suggest a possible pirate settlement (Couland et al.).

In the concluding chapter, Skowronek undertakes the ‘Unpacking of the dead man’s chest’ and delivers a retrospective based on the chapters in this and the previous volumes and his own research on the archaeology of piracy. This coherent picture defines where research stands and what (should) comes next. It also serves as an excellent introduction to newcomers or people with a general interest in the field and outlines how to identify pirates and their ships, lairs and hideouts, but also demonstrates the necessity to involve social sciences such as economics and societal changes to fully understand the wider background to the phenomenon of piracy at that time.

All chapters deliver intrinsic detective work to track down illicit behaviour and reunite ships, people and objects with their historical settings. While the serious study of real pirates brings to light cruel facts on slavery and murder, many entertaining tales are told along the way—some more adventurous than even Hollywood could dream up. Yet, the book retains shreds of the ‘charming lure’ that our popular culture has endorsed pirates with—a difficult task but well managed here. The writing style is accessible, and methods, approaches and results are clearly described. This is an enjoyable and very informative read, which will appeal to many, far beyond the scope of historical archaeology.

References

Ewen, C.R. & R.K. Skowronek (ed.). 2016. Pieces of eight: more archaeology of piracy. Gainesville: University of Florida Press.

Skowronek, R.K. & C.R. Ewen (ed.). 2007. X marks the spot: the archaeology of piracy. Gainesville: University of Florida Press.

David Parham & Thomas Cousins. 2025. The Swash Channel wreck: an archaeological investigation of a 17th-century armed Dutch merchantman. Oxford: Archaeopress; 978-1-80327-787-5 paperback £35 ebook OpenAccess http://doi.org/10.32028/9781803277875

The Swash Channel wreck is the publication of a marine project in which a seventeenth-century shipwreck was recorded and part of it excavated. The wreck was discovered in 2004 (previous finds of timber and anomalies during surveys already suggested a wreck) in the Swash Channel, leading towards the harbour of Poole, Dorset, UK. David Parham and Thomas Cousins together with a group of contributors compile the history of discovery, legal position of wrecks as cultural heritage, the environmental situation and site formation of the wreck, its marine excavations until 2013 and the applied methodologies (Chapters 1 and 2). This is followed by the dendrochronology of the timbers (Chapter 3), detailing the finds, grouped by which part of the ship they came from and their functions: hull, rigging assemblages, armaments and defence, and other finds (Chapters 4–7); and placing them in context of the ship’s build as well as in their seventeenth-century use. The ‘Historical background’ is researched by Ian Friel (Chapter 8) and reveals the identity as probably the Dutch Fame of Hoorn, which sank in 1631 and was subsequently looted and most likely salvaged. The Conclusion (Chapter 9) summarises the main findings but also reflects on the ‘lessons learnt’ of such a large-scale and challenging marine protection and excavation project, that already has and will help guide future endeavours.

The project was begun by Wessex Archaeology and then transferred jointly to Poole Harbour Commissioners (PHC) and Bournemouth University (BU), which continue to monitor the site that contains remaining parts of the wreck. The site of the wreck on the sandy bank (Hook Sands) adjacent to the Swash Channel was put under threat due to the necessary deepening of the channel for the use of larger ships and natural sedimentation processes. Numerous surveys and assessments led to first some stabilising work and in situ protection to help cover the endangered parts and ultimately to the difficult excavations of three of the four areas with wreckage (2010–2013). The mounting costs of protecting and excavating the wreck were funded by English Heritage with help of PHC, BU, Poole Museum and many other contributors.

The surviving wreck leaves a messy footprint of finds and consists of less than half of a ship, split lengthwise, the hull lying on its side, the inside facing up. Early during the research of the wreck, it was dated through dendrochronology of some of the timbers to after 1628. The small finds, such as stoneware and clay pipes, date to the second quarter of the seventeenth century and these finds also suggest that it was a Dutch vessel. The hull and rigging remains detail the craftmanship and, since this part of the hull seldom survives, deliver new insights into shipbuilding of the time. The ship was about 37m long and its hold was 3.7m deep. In many ways, it resembles the well-researched Batavia, another Dutch ship that sank in 1629 off the coast of Australia, and was raised in the 1970s. Among the rarer finds is the decorated rudder, which was lifted at the end of the excavation phase and displays a finely carved male head under a plumed helmet, face complete with moustache and goatee. Surprisingly, much has survived of the upper rigging, and allows for some reconstructions of how sails and cargo were moved through ropes. Only seven guns (cannons) were found in the wreck but the remaining gunports suggest there was originally space for up to 40 on the ship. The large amount of found shots (a few made from iron and many from lead) also suggests more guns would have been onboard. Some other finds, more connected to maintenance and daily life on board were also discovered, such as a mallet, a leather bucket, a brush, a bell and cooking equipment as well as stoneware. The combined evidence, including the few guns, no cargo, broken hull, and heavy rope cables under the hull make it likely that the ship was salvaged after it sank.

With all the information about the archaeological finds gathered, Friel researched the contemporaneous timeframe for possible candidates for a name for the shipwreck, and his detective work is very similar to that undertaken to identify the lives and ships of pirates. Unfortunately, many ships had the same fate as this wreck. In the historical setting the ‘Law of wreck’ is important to understand the shape of the wreckage and reveals also that the seventeenth-century pirates from the above-mentioned book are not so far removed from looters and salvagers on land. As the law states, if there are survivors the wreck cannot be looted and the owner must be given time to salvage their possession. This sometimes led to any surviving sailors being murdered, as a wreck was a lucrative income for coastal communities. After a detailed archival search and discussing several sunk ships as candidates, the Fame of Hoorn, a Dutch merchantman ship seems to be most likely. This ship ran aground on the sand bank and capsized, all crew made it off the ship. The Dutch merchantman was probably used in the West Frisian/West Indian salt trade and was sailing empty to pick up salt.

The detailed naval terminology left me—as a landlubber—a bit muddled occasionally but, overall, the book describes the difficult procedures of protecting and excavating ship parts very well and is accessible throughout. The placing of the discovered ship parts in their exact context as well as in its historical background makes this work interesting to a wide audience and provides a vivid glimpse of real life in the seventeenth century onboard and on the shore but also outlines a major maritime archaeological project.