This is the first detailed and comprehensive study of the shipshed complexes which housed the great navies of the Greco-Roman world, including Athens and Carthage. These complexes represented some of the largest and most expensive building projects of antiquity, and the volume provides a comprehensive survey of the archaeological and literary evidence. It explains how the buildings were carefully designed to keep warships dry and out of reach of shipworm, whilst enabling them to be launched quickly, easily and safely when required. It also serves as a handbook for archaeologists who may excavate such buildings, which are often difficult to identify and interpret. The analytical chapters are complemented by a full and detailed catalogue of known sheds, with plans for all the major sites specially drawn for easy comparison. The book thus provides an indispensable guide for all those interested in these buildings and in the maritime infrastructure of the ancient world.
- The first ever comprehensive study of ancient shipsheds
- Provides an essential handbook to archaeologists, enabling them to recognise and understand buildings which have previously been difficult to identify and interpret
- Demonstrates the scale and significance to ancient coastal cities of a building type which has hitherto been neglected as utilitarian
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Reviews & endorsements
'Shipsheds [of the Ancient Mediterranean] will surely become the standard work on the subject that everyone will consult for the next few decades or more. Congratulations are due to all who contributed to this ambitious project and its final excellent publication.' William M. Murray, The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology

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Product details
- Date Published: August 2018
- format: Paperback
- isbn: 9781108465427
- length: 619 pages
- dimensions: 280 x 210 x 34 mm
- weight: 1.59kg
- contains: 212 b/w illus. 3 maps 24 tables
- availability: Available
Table of Contents
1. Introduction David Blackman and Boris Rankov
2. Research and investigation of ancient shipsheds David Blackman
3. Classical and Hellenistic sheds David Blackman
4. Roman shipsheds Boris Rankov
5. The economy of shipshed complexes: Zea, a case study Jari Pakkanen
6. Ships and shipsheds Boris Rankov
7. Slipping and launching Boris Rankov
8. Ramps and substructures David Blackman
9. Roofs and superstructures Henrik Gerding
10. The topography of shipshed complexes and naval dockyards Kalliopi Baika
11. The fortification of shipsheds and naval arsenals Kalliopi Baika
12. Small-scale and rock-cut naval bases Kalliopi Baika
13. Conclusions: not just garages David Blackman and Boris Rankov
Catalogue of shipsheds and miscellanea Kalliopi Baika, David Blackman, Henrik Gerding, Judith McKenzie and Boris Rankov.
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Authors
David Blackman, Centre for the Study of Ancient Documents, University of Oxford
David Blackman has been carrying out and publishing research on ancient harbours for over forty years; as a postgraduate student he provided an analysis of the then known remains of ancient shipsheds (published in 1968 in Morrison and Williams' Greek Oared Ships), which were one key factor in the design of the Olympias trireme reconstruction. The present book is a culmination of that work. In 1997 he became Director of the British School at Athens, and has been based in Oxford since 2002.
Boris Rankov, Royal Holloway, University of London
Boris Rankov is Professor of Ancient History at Royal Holloway, University of London. In 1987 he recruited the first trials crew of 170 rowers to operate the Olympias trireme reconstruction, and was one of the rowing masters on the ship in 1988, 1990 and 1992. In 1996, he succeeded John Morrison as Chairman of the Trireme Trust, and subsequently co-authored the second edition of The Athenian Trireme (Cambridge, 2000). Alongside work on the Roman army and its epigraphy, ancient oared ships have remained a focus of his research and publication, including Trireme Olympias: The Final Report (2012) and the present volume.
With
Kalliopi Baika, Ephoreia of Maritime Antiquities, Greek Archaeological Service
Kalliopi Baika has a Ph.D. from the University of Paris I-Panthéon-Sorbonne. She has worked at Royal Holloway, University of London, has been Visiting Lecturer in Maritime Archaeology at the University of the Peloponnese and is now a maritime archaeologist at the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities in the Hellenic Ministry of Culture. She specialises in Greek harbour archaeology and coastal geoarchaeology in the Aegean and Mediterranean.
Henrik Gerding, Lunds Universitet, Sweden
Henrik Gerding has a Ph.D. in Classical Archaeology and Ancient History from Lunds Universitet, Sweden. He has worked at Royal Holloway, University of London and Uppsala University and is now Senior Lecturer in Classical Archaeology and Ancient History at Lunds Universitet. His research has been mainly on ancient architecture, and his published works include a monograph on the tomb of Caecilia Metella outside Rome.
Jari Pakkanen, Royal Holloway, University of London
Jari Pakkanen is Senior Lecturer in Classical Archaeology at Royal Holloway, University of London and has been a Co-Director of the Project. He specialises in Greek architecture, and from summer 2013 is the Director of the Finnish Institute at Athens.
Contributors
David Blackman, Boris Rankov, Jari Pakkanen, Henrik Gerding, Kalliopi Baika, Judith McKenzie