Ben Ford recently presented a paper discussing maritime
cultural landscapes at the 47th Conference on Historical and
Underwater Archaeology in Quebec City, Canada.
Ford’s paper, “What Happens to Landscape Archaeology when
the Land Ends? The Archaeology of Maritime Landscapes” was part of a session
titled “Foregrounding the Landscape in Archaeology.”
Ford’s paper discussed
landscape archaeology as viewed from the water. Following the conference theme
of questions that count, it addressed a series of questions: Does the landscape
change when viewed from the water? How best to approach landscapes as viewed
from the water? What is the relationship between geography, technology, and
culture in approaching a landscape from water? And finally, what is the role of
maritime landscapes in the larger field of landscape archaeology? In order to
address these questions, Ford drew on his own experience with the maritime
landscapes of the Great Lakes, as well as published historical, archaeological,
and geographical sources.
The symposium presented
listeners with a wide range of papers tied by the threads of landscape
analysis. Some archaeologists
are interested in the social negotiation of space and place while others focus
on spatial analysis or landform dynamics. Others attempt to combine a number of
approaches in their landscape research. This session demonstrated that you can
investigate a broad variety of historical archaeological questions, theories,
and methods using the concept of landscape.
Department of Anthropology