The Archaeology of Seafaring in Small-Scale Societies

This book is available in an open access edition thanks to the generous support by the Lund University Library and the Joint Faculties of Humanities and Theology at Lund University.

Exploring how ancient peoples developed seafaring technology and used watercraft to support and transform their societies

The development of seafaring technology throughout history expanded geographical and social horizons—powering human mobility and interaction, structuring social contexts, shaping worldviews, and effecting political centralization. This volume examines how watercraft have served as groundbreaking innovations throughout human history, focusing on small-scale societies in saltwater environments.

Using archaeological, historical, and ethnographic evidence, contributors examine settlement patterns in western Patagonia, whale hunting by Megalithic societies in Brittany, maritime mobility in Baja California, Coast Salish trip lengths, and Inuit connections to boats and the sea in the Eastern Arctic. Themes explored include the technological capacities of watercraft and the humans who propelled them, the role of watercraft in production and consumption of resources, the impacts of widespread travel on social networks, and the phenomenological experience of seafaring. The Archaeology of Seafaring in Small-Scale Societies illuminates the complex interplays that sustained past watery worlds and highlights the necessity of studying the subject with a holistic and globally comparative approach.