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This thesis explores the hypothesis that current industry standard methods used to visualise environmentally hazardous or historically significant shipwrecks can be improved by adopting a number of new, aesthetically considered, methods. The thesis describes the development of occlusion objects, locoramps and the use of digital cinematography, as methods that the author proposes to improve the 3D visualisation of point cloud data from multibeam sonar. Case studies were selected as the basis for experimentation; they include HMS Royal Oak in Orkney and SS Richard Montgomery in the Thames Estuary. The author collaborated with a multi-disciplinary team of forensic maritime archaeologists, marine surveyors and salvage experts to gain access to unique shipwreck sites and the high resolution sonar data gathered from them. Through experimentation with the data, occlusion objects, locally oriented colour ramps (locoramps) and improved depth cueing through digital cinematography were developed and applied in 3D visualisations of the case study wrecks. A real-time application WreckSight was created to exploit the new methods. The resulting 3D visualisations of the wrecks were evaluated by a number of target audience groups by means of an interactive questionnaire that allows a direct comparison of data presented using the new methods with traditional display methods. Analysis of the resulting data shows a statistical significance that supports the hypothesis. The author proposes that the new methods constitute new knowledge in the 3D visualisation of multibeam sonar data of shipwrecks.

The goal of the Lake Ontario Maritime Cultural Landscape project was to investigate the nature and distribution of archaeological sites along the northeast shoreline of Lake Ontario while examining the environmental, political, and cultural factors that influenced the position of these sites. The primary method of investigation was a combined archaeological and historical survey of the shoreline within seven 1-km square areas. The archaeological component of the survey covered both the terrestrial and submerged portions of the shore through marine remote sensing (side-scan sonar and magnetometer), diving surveys, pedestrian surveys, and informant interviews. A total of 39 sites and 51 isolated finds were identified or further analyzed as a result of this project. These sites ranged from the Middle Archaic period (ca. 5500-2500 B.C.) through the 19th century and included habitation, military, transportation, and recreational sites. Analysis of these findings was conducted at two scales: the individual survey area and Lake Ontario as a whole. By treating each survey area as a distinct landscape, it was possible to discuss how various cultures and groups used each space and to identify instances of both dynamism and continuity in the landscapes. Results of these analyses included the continuous occupation of several locations from pre-Contact times to the present, varying uses of the same environment in response to political and economic shifts, the formation of communities around transportation nodes, and recurring settlement patterns. The survey data was also combined to explore regional-scale trends that manifest themselves in the historical Lake Ontario littoral landscape including ephemeral landscapes, permeable boundaries, danger in the lake, and factors of change.

This licentiate thesis investigates the use of digital visualisations for knowledge production and communication of maritime heritage located underwater. The archaeological practice that takes place in response to development, contract archaeology, is the field that is being investigated. Much of the practical and administrative aspects of contract maritime work involves the survey, excavation and interpretation of archaeological remains. In addition, shifts in heritage policy emphasise that the results of this work move beyond their own value to provide access and democratic participation to heritage and be of benefit to society (e.g. Faro Convention, 2005). Since the inaccessibility of maritime archaeology underwater makes outreach especially challenging, digital, and in particular 3D, technologies have been recognised as having great potential to meet the needs of both maritime archaeological researchers and public audiences. Advances in methodologies for digitally documenting and visualising archaeological sites, both on land and underwater, are providing a range of innovative and multidisciplinary solutions for both archaeological analysis and outreach activities. The aim of this research is to understand current uses of digital visualisation for knowledge production and communication of maritime archaeology located underwater, in order to identify knowledge gaps that would benefit from future research. This aim is met through a study drawn primarily from the fields of digital archaeology, maritime archaeology and heritage studies, as well as discourse and thematic analysis of the factors that influence the use of these technologies in the sector. The case study is the contract maritime archaeology sector in Scandinavia, with a primary focus on the practice in Sweden and also including perspectives from the Danish and Norwegian sectors. The results show that an emphasis on efficiency within the contract sector shapes the understanding and use of digital technologies, in some instances limiting their potential for archaeological interpretation and communication. While the maritime sector was found to be partly defined and restricted by a distinct identity, at times operating independently from mainstream archaeology, it was also found to be open to innovation. This represents great potential for digital workflows aimed at enhancing both interpretation and communication to be applied to the maritime archaeological sector in the future.

Located approximately in the middle of the central Mediterranean channel, the Maltese Archipelago was touched by the historical events that effected the political, economic and cultural environment of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. The islands were close to the major maritime routes throughout history and they were often on the border between clashing military, political, religious, and cultural entities. For these reasons, the islands were presumed to have been strategically and economically important, and, thus, frequented by ships. An underwater archaeological survey around the archipelago revealed the scarcity of submerged cultural remains, especially pertaining to shipping and navigation. Preliminary findings elucidate a story that contrasts with the picture presented by modern history and historiography. In this sense, a comparison of the underwater archaeological data with the information gathered through a detailed study of Maltese maritime history clearly shows that the islands were attributed an exaggerated importance in historical texts, due to political and religious trends that are rooted in the period during which the islands were under the control of the Order of Saint John. An objective investigation of the historical and archaeological material provides a more balanced picture, and places the islands in a Mediterranean-wide historical framework from the first colonization of the archipelago eight thousands years ago to the twentieth century.

Located approximately in the middle of the central Mediterranean channel, the Maltese Archipelago was touched by the historical events that effected the political, economic and cultural environment of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. The islands were close to the major maritime routes throughout history and they were often on the border between clashing military, political, religious, and cultural entities. For these reasons, the islands were presumed to have been strategically and economically important, and, thus, frequented by ships. An underwater archaeological survey around the archipelago revealed the scarcity of submerged cultural remains, especially pertaining to shipping and navigation. Preliminary findings elucidate a story that contrasts with the picture presented by modern history and historiography. In this sense, a comparison of the underwater archaeological data with the information gathered through a detailed study of Maltese maritime history clearly shows that the islands were attributed an exaggerated importance in historical texts, due to political and religious trends that are rooted in the period during which the islands were under the control of the Order of Saint John. An objective investigation of the historical and archaeological material provides a more balanced picture, and places the islands in a Mediterranean-wide historical framework from the first colonization of the archipelago eight thousands years ago to the twentieth century.

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.

The advent of steam contributed heavily to the economic transformation of early America, facilitating trade through the transportation of goods along the country’s lakes, rivers, and canals. Serious experimentation with steam navigation began in the last quarter of the 18th century. By the turn of the 19th century, fledgling US steamboat companies vied for control of navigation rights in the country’s northern waterways. The second steamboat to be launched on Lake Champlain, Phoenix, operated as a passenger steamer between 1815 and 1819, when she caught fire and sank in the lake. The intention of this study is to advance our knowledge of early steamboat design and use in the United States through the archaeological investigation of the country’s earliest-known steamboat wreck. As little is known about the development of these early steam vessels, the study of Phoenix offers a unique opportunity to gain new information related to steamboat design in the early 19th century as well as a glimpse into life on the lakes and rivers of North America during this era. The dissertation presents detailed information on Phoenix’s construction, operation, and sinking based on historical and archaeological analysis and interpretation. In combination with the available archival record and analytical comparisons with steamboats of similar size and age, a more comprehensive understanding of the developmental phases of steam travel and its impact on early America can be gained.

Archaeological research at Harbour Island, Bahamas, was designed to help explore and develop the concept of maritimity, or identity grounded in perceived (or imagined) shared traits deriving from a community’s relationship with the maritime environment. Maritimity can best be identified by using three broad and overlapping categories of Landscape, Maritime Resources and Maritime Material Culture. Historical documents and maritime cultural landscape elements establish the maritimity of Harbour Island in the context of these categories. Artifacts, procured through archaeological survey of nine properties inhabited since at least the eighteenth century, are analyzed to investigate whether there any notable differences in the archaeological assemblages of maritime communities that indicate maritimity. Analysis relies on Stanley South's artifact classification system and his Carolina Artifact pattern. The nine properties are compared among themselves as well as with four other sites from the western British Atlantic region. Comparisons between the Harbour Island sites reveal a strong homogeneity of ceramic types at all households and a low representation of personal and clothing artifacts that indicate the relative poverty of the community. Maritime activities are not strongly represented in the archaeological record. When compared to four other sites from Jamaica, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Delaware, the assemblage from the Harbour Island community is relatively comparable to other sites influenced by British colonial culture. Although the domestic artifacts contain little maritime material culture, the development of the island's built environment demonstrates maritimity in both the categories of Landscape and Maritime Material Culture. Faunal remains from Harbour Island, consisting primarily of fish and shellfish, provide archaeological evidence of the importance of the Maritime Resources category. Only when the evidence from all three categories of maritimity is considered together can Harbour Island be identified archaeologically as a community that strongly identified with both the maritime environment and the dominant British Colonial Atlantic culture.

The United States is a nation founded upon a maritime heritage that allowed for the early colonies to form, trade, expand their frontiers and defend themselves. The material remains of this legacy are dispersed across the continent in inland waters, along coasts, and in the depths of the sea. This dissertation aims at presenting a structural overview and assessment of efforts designed at preserving, enhancing, and learning from the material remains of this maritime heritage. The study reviews national and state laws and regulations that apply to such resources, which together create a mosaic of preservation mandates. Discussion of the legal framework is enhanced through incorporation of current issues and examples, and leads to a better understanding of the research element of the study based on a maritime heritage questionnaire distributed to over 100 organizations nationwide. The maritime heritage questionnaire serves as the fundamental original research component of the dissertation, and through it this overview incorporates input from organizations in the public sector, universities, museums, non-profit organizations, avocational groups, and cultural resource management firms. These diverse perspectives offer insights into the current state of the field, identify legislative or other gaps, and suggest areas where efforts need to be redoubled in order to preserve the nation's tangible connection with its maritime past. Together, the legislative overview and professional stakeholder input lead to a set of proposals through which the preservation of the nation's submerged and coastal maritime heritage resources can be enhanced.