An ancient seascape: the social context of seafaring in the early Bronze Age

Noort, Robert Van de

doi:10.1080/0043824042000185793

Cited by 23 publications

(19 citation statements)

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“…Second, it has been argued that the shapes of both the originally identified and the newly identified log coffins clearly did not, as has been argued in the past, invoke the imagery of boats, or the cosmologies associated with the crossing of dangerous waters in search of exotic artefacts such as amber (Needham ; ; Van de Noort ). The lidded log coffin from Loose Howe deliberately retained the form and appearance of an oak trunk with the bark still on, totally enclosing the internment within.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Loose Howe; A North Yorkshire Log Coffin Boat Burial(s) Revisited

Jones¹,

Brunning²,

Wilkin

2018

Oxford J Archaeology

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Summary In 1937 a large barrow in north‐east Yorkshire was excavated by Mrs H. W. and Dr F. Elgee. A primary deposit comprising a ‘canoe’‐shaped log coffin and what were described as two ‘log boats’ or ‘canoes’ was uncovered beneath the mound. The burial did not survive; however, the ‘canoe’‐shaped coffin was found to contain an Early Bronze Age Merthyr Mawr‐type dagger, flints and some hazelnuts. Subsequently, a cremation was inserted into the top of the mound. This was accompanied by a Camerton‐Snowshill‐type dagger, a stone battle axe, a copper alloy pin, an accessory vessel and fragments from a Collared Urn. As part of a log coffin radiocarbon‐dating project, one of the hazelnuts was radiocarbon‐dated to 2008–1772 cal BC (95.4%) and a fragment of cremated bone from the secondary burial was dated to 1890–1741 cal BC (93.2%). This paper discusses the dating results and reconsiders the interpretation of the log coffin as a boat.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Loose Howe; A North Yorkshire Log Coffin Boat Burial(s) Revisited

Jones¹,

Brunning²,

Wilkin

2018

Oxford J Archaeology

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“…Previously (eg Van de Noort 2003;, I have argued that the existence of both pre-existing and contemporary monuments in the landscape context of the Kilnsea boat imply a close association of seafaring with ancestors and ancestral rites, and a similar argument could be made for Caldicot 1. Using Helm's (1988) terms and Needham's (2000) archaeological inferences of these, both the vertical (ie geographical distance) and horizontal (ie ancestral) dimensions of connections with the other world were clearly present here, and the choice of location for seafaring boats to depart to, or arrive from, distant countries was an unambiguous one.…”

Section: Contextualising the Sewn-plank Boatsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Certain aspects of this research, notably a consideration of the socio-political significance of the sewn-plank boats from the Humber estuary of Early Bronze Age date, have been published previously (Van de Noort et al 1999, Van de Noort 20032004b, forthcoming). This paper offers a broader scope in that it is concerned with all finds of sewnplank boats from Britain and in that it considers the whole of the second millennium BC.…”

Section: The Scope Of This Papermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The space that was passed through during the long-distance voyages may have acted as a direct metaphor for the time span between people and their ancestors (cf. Van de Noort 2003). This, and the real or perceived dangers associated with seafaring, would have prevented the demise of the special meaning of the long-distance acquired objects during the Early Bronze Age (cf.…”

Section: Contextualising the Sewn-plank Boatsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…burial mounds) contemporary with the use of the boats are known for the cultural landscapes of the Early Bronze Age craft only, again with the exception of Caldicot 2. The presence of the ubiquitous Bronze Age burial mounds within the cultural landscapes of the sewn-plank boats should not be overstated, were it not for the fact that barrows at Kilnsea and Caldicot represent outliers within the general barrow distribution in the wider landscape (eg Van de Noort 1996;Manby 1988;Lynch et al 2000).…”

Section: Contextualising the Sewn-plank Boatsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Argonauts of the North Sea - a Social Maritime Archaeology for the 2nd MillenniumBC

Noort¹

2006

Proc. Prehist. Soc.

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). The sewn-plank boats of the Bronze Age remain unique to Britain, and much has been published about their construction and performance (eg McGrail 1988;Wright 1990;Gifford & Gifford 2004). Since the discovery of the Dover boat, it has also become widely accepted that this type of craft was probably used for seafaring (eg Van de Noort et al. 1999;McGrail 2001; Clark 2004b). However, to date no genuine attempt has been made to explain why this important innovation in boat construction was made and why it appears to be limited to Britain, who the people were that used these boats, what tasks were served by seafaring and what the socio-political implications were of the construction and operation of the sewn-plank boats. Aims and objectives, structure and sourcesThe aim of this paper is to offer a new analysis of the social dimensions of seafaring in the 2nd millennium BC and a consideration of how this might have had significance to (re-)creating the social order at the time through its economic, socio-political and ritual significance. This social maritime archaeology aims to fully integrate maritime archaeology for this period with its parent discipline, archaeology (McGrail 2003, 1). It will achieve this aspiration through a set of linked objectives, which form the structure of this paper: first, the current understanding of the sociopolitical significance and logistics of long-distance exchange will be reviewed; second, the role of the sewn-plank boats and other craft in seafaring will be

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Virtual cultural landscapes: Geospatial visualizations of past environments

Monteleone

Thompson

Prufer

2021

Archaeological Prospection

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Recent advances in spatial and remote sensing technology have led to new methods in archaeological site identification and reconstruction, allowing archaeologists to investigate landscapes and sites on multiple scales. These remotely conducted surveys create virtual cultural landscapes and seascapes that archaeologists and the public interact with and experience, often better than traditional maps. Our study examines landscape reconstruction and archaeological site classifications from a phenomenological and human behavioural ecology (HBE) perspective. HBE aims to reconstruct how humans interacted with these places as part of their active and passive decision making. Through temporal reconstructions, archaeologists and others can experience and interpret past landscapes and subtle changes in cultural land-and seascapes. Here, we evaluate the use of remotely sensed data (lidar, satellite imagery, sonar, radar, etc.) for developing virtual cultural landscapes while also incorporating Indigenous perspectives. Our study compares two vastly different landscapes and perspectives: a seascape in coastal Alaska, USA, and a neotropical jungle in Belize, Central America. By incorporating ethnographic accounts, oral histories, Indigenous traditional knowledge and community engagement, archaeologists can develop new tools to understand decisions made in the past, especially pertaining to settlement selection and resource procurement. These virtual reconstructions become cognitive images of a possible place that the observer experiences. Virtual cultural landscapes allow archaeologists to reproduce landscapes that may otherwise be invisible and present them to different publics. These processes elucidate how landscapes changed over time based on human behaviours while simultaneously allowing archaeologists to engage with Indigenous communities and the public in the protection of prehistoric and historic sites and sacred spaces through cultural heritage management.

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An ancient seascape: the social context of seafaring in the early Bronze Age

Cited by 23 publications

References 10 publications

Loose Howe; A North Yorkshire Log Coffin Boat Burial(s) Revisited

Loose Howe; A North Yorkshire Log Coffin Boat Burial(s) Revisited

Argonauts of the North Sea - a Social Maritime Archaeology for the 2nd MillenniumBC

Virtual cultural landscapes: Geospatial visualizations of past environments

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