Since the fifteenth century the rise of capitalism and the expansion of global trade networks have ensured that a wide range of consumer goods has become available to people from all walks of life. Paralleling these developments, our attitudes and beliefs about consumer goods have also changed: goods that were once considered luxuries have become commonplace in domestic households. This study celebrates the diversity of this material culture and the variety of symbolic meanings people attach to it. The US – China trade, as a facet of the Spice Trade, is inextricably linked to the development of capitalism and long-distance shipping that ensured the movement of consumer goods to markets around the world. Inevitably, many of these ships sank and archaeologically their cargoes and the artifacts associated with their crew provide an opportunity to glimpse the development of our modern world. This thesis uses the shipwreck Frolic (1850) as a case study to discuss how those involved in, and those who were supplied through, this trade used a range of consumer goods to construct distinct identities for themselves and those around them. This study also draws on a wide variety of source material, including material culture (museum collections and archaeological assemblages), images and documentary sources (courtesy literature and newspapers) to paint a broader picture of the US – China trade and consumer society than any one source is capable of doing itself. This study ultimately argues that the range in consumer goods associated with the late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century US – China trade is symptomatic of the increasing complexity of consumer markets able to facilitate the establishment and maintenance of a wide array of consumer identities, necessary under the many new social, economic and ideological relationships constructed under capitalism.

The development of the medieval city of Angkor (802-1431 CE) in the floodplains of the Tonle Sap Lake has lead researchers to believe that Angkor made use of its extensive river network; however, little attention has been given to Angkor's relationship with its watery environment. Previous studies have presented a fragmentary view of the subject by analyzing different components in a compartmentalized way, placing the focus on nautical technology or neglecting discussion on water transport in academic works on land transport. This work aims to provide a more comprehensive study on Angkor's specific cognitive and functional traits that could be construed as a distinctive form of fluvial and cultural landscape. This is done by examining the environment, nautical technology, and the cultural biography of boats within the theoretical framework of the maritime cultural landscape and using a cross-disciplinary approach that integrates data from archaeology, iconography, history, ethnography, and environmental studies. A new topological map of Angkor's landscape of communication and transport is presented, as well as new insights on the use of boats as liminal agents for economic and political activities.

Esta tese de doutorado tem como objetivo mapear e cadastrar as estruturas portuárias do vale do Ribeira (SP) especialmente aquelas situadas no município de Cananéia que forneçam informações sobre o período de 1850-1950, época em que teria se estabelecido um modo capitalista de produção na região alicerçado na lavoura comercial do arroz. Essa abordagem se justifica pela necessidade de se avaliar as contradições existentes entre o discurso e a sociedade concreta. Hoje a região é conhecida por suas belezas naturais, patrimônio histórico mas, paradoxalmente, é a mais pobre do estado de São Paulo. No entanto, as estruturas portuárias, desde o século XIX até hoje apresentam grande dinâmica construtiva. Como explicar esse conflito? Observando os contextos através de uma Arqueologia Marítima embasada no materialismo histórico. Esses contextos foram delimitados através do mapeamento, cadastramento e prospecção extensiva de estruturas, bens e locais relativos à evolução de embarcações, dos portos e da dinâmica comercial expressa no ambiente urbano. O resultado desse trabalho foi o entendimento de que duas modificações causaram grandes transformações na dinâmica produtiva de todo o vale do Ribeira. A primeira delas foi a transição da lavoura comercial para pesca e para o turismo. A segunda foi a inversão do sentido do fluxo das mercadorias gerado pela substituição do transporte marítimo, em primeiro lugar, pelo conjunto navegação fluvial/ ferrovia, depois pelo transporte rodoviário. Esse processo colocou os lucros nas mãos de novos agentes econômicos, mas manteve a produção do discurso como primazia dos antigos donos do poder. / The aim of this Ph.D. thesis is to map and register the ports of the Ribeiras valley (SP) especially those situated in Cananéia that provide information about the period 1850-1950, when a capitalist production mode based on the trade of rice was developed in the region. The justification for this kind of approach is the necessity to evaluate the contradictions between the speech and the real society. Nowadays the region is known by its natural resources and historical buildings but at the same time it is the poorest region of São Paulo state. However, since the 19th century until today the ports have had a great structural dynamics. How to explain this conflict? By observing the context through a Maritime Archaeology based on the historical materialism. These contexts have been delimitated with mapping, registering and extensive surveying of the structures, patrimony and places related to evolution of water craft, ports and the commercial dynamics in urban environment. The result of the research was the understanding that two changes have caused huge transformation in the productive dynamics of the entire Ribeiras valley. The first one was the transition from commercial agriculture to commercial fishing and tourism. The second one was the inversion of the direction of the trade caused by the substitution of maritime transportation, first by river transportation/ railroad, secondly by the road transportation. This process put the profits in the hands of new economical agents, but kept the production of the speech with the old power owners.

This thesis focuses on the economies of Roman ports and their role in the facilitation and organization of maritime trade, combining both terrestrial and maritime archaeological evidence as well as literary and epigraphic material. The first half of the thesis examines Mediterranean ports from a panoptic level in order to address questions of systems of trade, connectivity and economic development. In doing so, I focus on three particular areas of material culture: ceramics, shipwreck cargoes (typically composed of amphorae, metal ingots or stone) and epigraphy. The second half of the thesis focuses on two case studies, southern Turkey and southern France. For each region, I explore the economic factors which led to the development of each region and the ways in which ports enabled this development. I consider the impact of landscape, the usage of natural resources and the extent of production for both local consumption and export. Importantly, I examine the regional connections of the two regions and their interactions within the wider Mediterranean. I develop a model for the development of ports along each coastline and their degree of integration into the trading network of the Roman Mediterranean. Building on this, it becomes possible to assess the extent and scale of extra-regional interaction and market integration. From the evidence presented in this thesis, I argue that ports were at the core of the Roman market economy and that the development of a port network allowed for the integration and interdependence of Mediterranean markets. This allowed for regional economic growth through the specialization in the production of goods for which a region had a comparative advantage.

This thesis casts a new light on the role of Southeast Asia in the ancient Indian Ocean World. It brings together data and approaches from archaeology and historical linguistics to examine cultural and language contact between Southeast Asia and South Asia, East Africa and the Middle East. The interdisciplinary approach employed in this study reveals that insular Southeast Asian seafarers, traders and settlers had impacted on these parts of the world in pre-modern times through the transmission of numerous biological and cultural items. It is further demonstrated that the words used for these commodities often contain clues about the precise ethno-linguistic communities involved in their transoceanic dispersal. The Methodology chapter introduces some common linguistic strategies to examine language contact and lexical borrowing, to determine the directionality of loanwords and to circumvent the main caveats of such an approach. The study then proceeds to delve deeper into the socio-cultural background of interethnic contact in the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean as a whole, focusing on the oft-neglected Southeast Asian contributions to the cultural landscape of this region and addressing the nature of pre-modern contact between Southeast Asia and the different parts of the Indian Ocean Word. Following from that, the last three chapters look in-depth at the dispersal of respectively Southeast Asian plants, spices and maritime technology into the wider Indian Ocean World. Although concepts and their names do not always neatly travel together across ethno-linguistic boundaries, these chapters demonstrate how a closer examination of lexical data offers supportive evidence and new perspectives on events of cultural contact not otherwise documented. Cumulatively, this study underlines that the analysis of lexical data is a strong tool to examine interethnic contact, particularly in pre-literate societies. Throughout the Indian Ocean World, Southeast Asian products and concepts were mainly dispersed by Malay-speaking communities, although others played a role as well.

<p>Techniques used in the building of a number of ships from the Mediterranean will be presented in this paper. The two techniques thnat will be discussed are shell-based technique and skeleton-basedtechnique. An attempt to clearify and delineate the transition between these two techniques will be made. The possible reasons for transition will then be described and discussed. The development ofthe techniques is going to be identified with help from four wrecks by analyzing their edge joineriesand this facts will be used as a basis for a chronological presentation. Finally, data from theanalyzed wrecks will be compared and the results are interpreted in the text.</p>

Those who today hear the name Djurhamn are maybe first thinking of a summer resort place with sunbathing, swimming and recreational boating activities. Djurhamn has an interesting and fascinating history well intertwined with the history of Sweden. The interesting history was exposed by the Stockholm Sport Diving Club which, during the summers of 1964 and 1965, brought up a large number of finds from the bottom of Djurhamn. The findings could essentially be dated to be in the in the period 1500s to 1700s. Like other parts of the East Coast Djurhamn was hit in "Russian raids" in the early 1700s. The known meetings of warships during the Vasa era and the history of naval ship Riskswasas fate also reflects the interesting parts of Djurhamn history. While working on this, a number of dives were made at the bottom of the basin in Djurhamn. Two side-scan surveys have also been conducted. Overall, this has not resulted in any change of the picture of what's on Djurhamns bottom. A previously unknown wreck that lies south of the cemetery have, however, been located based on information from the public. The finds from the dives during 1964 and 1965 talk about food and drinks, cooking utensils, three-leg pots and bottles speaks their language. Even earlier dated bargain materials speak the same language. It is a place where everyday objects leave imprints on the bottom along with the testimony of a brickyard, which flourished for a short period. Which traces have been left from the naval activities? Practically none. On land there are no naval monuments. The objects which were brought up at the 1960 dives were almost entirely attributable to the applications connected to cooking. Our modern society is a complex reality. There are homes, workplaces, hospitals, places of entertainment, etc. People are born, grow up, grow old and die. What do we find in the signs of the Djurhamn? Well, a picture that much is a reflection of today's society. Also here you are born grown up grown old and finally dead. Heavy drinking has flourished. In addition to self-household and shipping, there has been brick industry and cholera quarantine. Finally, perhaps Djurhamn over time is best described as farmers, fishermen and hungry sailors’ history more than the history of the fleet in the Vasa kings’ service.

Techniques used in the building of a number of ships from the Mediterranean will be presented in this paper. The two techniques thnat will be discussed are shell-based technique and skeleton-basedtechnique. An attempt to clearify and delineate the transition between these two techniques will be made. The possible reasons for transition will then be described and discussed. The development ofthe techniques is going to be identified with help from four wrecks by analyzing their edge joineriesand this facts will be used as a basis for a chronological presentation. Finally, data from theanalyzed wrecks will be compared and the results are interpreted in the text.

This thesis analyses a range of lead objects discovered in Thonis-Heracleion, an Egyptian port city, and offers a new perspective on the use of metals in antiquity. It advances two central arguments: firstly, that the large quantity of lead artefacts in Thonis-Heracleion is not exceptional but rather a more accurate reflection of the metallisation of ancient societies and secondly, that the corpus of lead objects sheds light on aspects of ancient communities that normally remain invisible due to the ease of recycling and low cost of lead. The first chapter reviews the presence of lead in the archaeological record in Egypt, the factors affecting its deposition and preservation, and the corpus as a whole from Thonis-Heracleion. A comparison between the two puts the lead from the site in a new Egyptian perspective. The second, third, and fourth chapters offer substantial analyses of lead ingots, weights, and containers found at Thonis-Heracleion with parallels from around the Mediterranean. The chapters show the potential of this corpus to shed light on activities in the Egyptian town despite the notable lack of direct parallels. It becomes clear for example that large lead objects appear earlier in the archaeological record and that the range of objects is wider than previously suspected. The analysis in these chapters offers a robust dating framework for lead objects previously unavailable. Together the lead artefacts illustrate local mercantile activities, the economic role of the port city, and, through the identification of the first Athenian weights found in Egypt, trade connections between Egypt, Athens, and the rest of the Eastern Mediterranean. The result is an overview of lead in Egypt and its place in Thonis- Heracleion, demonstrating the significance of metals for understanding ancient societies.

This study catalogues and analyses 329 statuettes and amulets from Thonis-Heracleion, a sunken city off the coast of Egypt that flourished between the 7th and 2nd centuries BC. This is the first study of votive statuettes and amulets from the Late and Ptolemaic Periods that presents a comprehensive corpus from a single site, complete with detailed catalogue entries and photographs. Although some of the most exceptional pieces were previously published in an exhibition catalogue, the majority are unpublished and it is the first time they have been studied and viewed as a whole. The material includes not only Egyptian-style bronzes, which are typical dedications of this period, but also a range of other materials including lead, terracotta, faience, and limestone. Some figures are represented in foreign style and attest to a small hellenized community at the site. By viewing multiple categories of votive material laterally and in context, important conclusions about cultural interactions and cult practice at Thonis-Heracleion come to light. Chapter One details the find context of the statuettes and amulets, followed by a discussion of their types and the cults to which they attest in Chapter 2. Chapter 3 outlines the objects’ primary functions and demonstrates the ways that lead and bronze were utilised differently. Chapter 4 focuses on bronze and lead production methods, particularly methods of replicable production that are indicative of technological exchange with other Mediterranean cultures. Finally, in Chapter 5, I look at how the votives reflect the cultural community at Thonis-Heracleion, and how they compare to others at sites throughout Egypt. Each chapter highlights how the archaeological context informs us about cultural interactions between Egyptians and Greeks and about the dynamics of cult practice at a Delta site in the Late and Ptolemaic Periods.