HIS 130 Lecture 12: Underwater Archaeology and the Age of Exploration
Document Summary
Themes: legal, cultural, diplomatic, economic, military, science + tech, social. Life at sea: physical and mental damage. The age of exploration enhanced european desire for gold and silver. Modern day treasure hunters continues the tradition. Treasure hunting damages archeological sites and causes ecological damage. Underwater archaeology as a discipline has developed against this backdrop. European voyages: bring people together, military power over the seas, trade and commerce. Shipwrecks tell us a lot about: nautical history, what society was like in that time, food, sanitation, medicine etc, navigation, guns/fighting. The age of exploration produced connections and links that stimulated changes in world history (good and bad) Ships were the most complicated machines produces by human society. Underwater archaeology provides new and important information about nautical technology, shipboard life, navigation, gunnery, and discipline. Specific historic question: the spanish armada, 1588. Types of questions addressed by underwater archaeologists: history.
