Maritime cultural landscapes are collections of submerged archaeological sites, or combinations of terrestrial and submerged sites that reflect the relationship between humans and the water. These landscapes can range in size from a single beach to an entire coastline and can include areas of terrestrial sites now inundated as well as underwater sites that are now desiccated.

However, what binds all of these sites together is the premise that each aspect of the landscape –cultural, political, environmental, technological, and physical – is interrelated and can not be understood without reference to the others. In this maritime cultural landscape approach, individual sites are treated as features within the larger landscape and the interpretation of single sites add to a larger analysis of a region or culture. This approach provides physical and theoretical links between terrestrial and underwater archaeology as well as prehistoric and historic archaeology; consequently, providing a framework for integrating such diverse topics as trade, resource procurement, habitation, industrial production, and warfare into a holistic study of the past.

Landscape studies foster broader perspectives and approaches, extending the study of maritime cultures beyond the shoreline. Despite this potential, the archaeological study of maritime landscapes is a relatively untried approach with many questions regarding the methods and perspectives needed to effectively analyze these landscapes.

The chapters in this volume, which include contributions from the United States, the United Kingdom, Norway, and Australia, address many of the theoretical and methodological questions surrounding maritime cultural landscapes. The authors comprise established scholars as well as archaeologists at the beginning of their careers, providing a healthy balance of experience and innovation. The chapters also demonstrate parity between method and theory, where the varying interpretations of culture and space are given equal weight with the challenges of investigating both wet and dry sites across large areas.

Table of contents (19 chapters)

Introduction
Pages 1-9
Ford, Ben

Searching for Santarosae: Surveying Submerged Landscapes for Evidence of Paleocoastal Habitation Off California’s Northern Channel Islands
Pages 11-26
Watts, Jack (et al.)

Testing the Paleo-Maritime Hypothesis for Glacial Lake Iroquois: Implications for Changing Views of Past Culture and Technology
Pages 27-43
Schulz, Margaret (et al.)

Lake Ontario Paleoshorelines and Submerged Prehistoric Site Potential in the Great Lakes
Pages 45-62
Halligan, Jessi

The Shoreline as a Bridge, Not a Boundary: Cognitive Maritime Landscapes of Lake Ontario
Pages 63-80
Ford, Ben

Rock, Paper, Shipwreck! The Maritime Cultural Landscape of Thunder Bay
Pages 81-97
Lusardi, Wayne R.

Ship to Shore: Inuit, Early Europeans, and Maritime Landscapes in the Northern Gulf of St. Lawrence
Pages 99-128
Fitzhugh, William W. (et al.)

Temporal Changes in a Precontact and Contact Period Cultural Landscape Along the Southern Rhode Island Coast
Pages 129-146
Jazwa, Christopher

A Maritime Landscape of Old Navy Cove and Deadman’s Island
Pages 147-162
Jordan-Greene, Krista

Potential Contributions of a Maritime Cultural Landscape Approach to Submerged Prehistoric Resources, Northwestern Gulf of Mexico
Pages 163-178
Evans, Amanda M. (et al.)

Modeling Maritime Culture: Galveston, Texas, in the Historic Period
Pages 179-194
Keith, Matthew E. (et al.)

The Hidden World of the Maritime Maya: Lost Landscapes Along the North Coast of Quintana Roo, Mexico
Pages 195-216
Glover, Jeffrey B. (et al.)

Material Culture and Maritime Identity: Identifying Maritime Subcultures Through Artifacts
Pages 217-232
Hatch, Heather E.

The “Richest River in the World”: The Maritime Cultural Landscape of the Mouth of the Río Chagres, Republica de Panamá
Pages 233-245
Delgado, James P. (et al.)

US Shipbuilding Activities at American River, South Australia: Finding Significance of “Place” in the Maritime Cultural Landscape
Pages 247-266
Dappert, Claire P.

“What Do You Want to Catch?”: Exploring the Maritime Cultural Landscapes of the Queenscliff Fishing Community
Pages 267-289
Duncan, Brad

The Binary Relationship of Sea and Land
Pages 291-310
Westerdahl, Christer

Places of Special Meaning: Westerdahl’s Comet, “Agency,” and the Concept of the “Maritime Cultural Landscape”
Pages 311-329
Flatman, Joe

Conclusion: The Maritime Cultural Landscape Revisited
Pages 331-344
Westerdahl, Christer