Boats and ships were the trains, planes, trucks and tanks of the past. They were extensively used and involved in various activities throughout the history of human kind. Direct evidence for boats has emerged as early as the 8th millennium BC[1], and since then, boats and ships have been the largest and most complex mobile structures produced [2].
In order to discuss the archaeological potentials of boats and ships, it has to be clear that the ultimate objective of studying any archaeological source material is the insight they give into the people who produced and used them. In doing so, we hope for a better understanding of the development of human behaviour over periods of time and across regions and continents. Therefore, the value of archaeological source material is determined by the diversity and authenticity of information they yield. So, the more an object can tell us about people who produced and used it, the more valuable it becomes. Accordingly, this paper looks into the significance of boats and ships as valuable archaeological evidence,
* Dr. Emad Khalil, Lecturer in Maritime Archaeology, Department of Archaeology & Graeco-Roman Studies, Faculty of Arts, Alexandria University. Email: emadkhalil@hotmail.co.uk
[1] Ellmers D. 1996. The Beginnings of Boatbuilding in Central Europe. In B. Greenhill (ed.) The Earliest Ships, pp. 11-23. London: Conway Maritime Press
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[2] Muckelroy, K. 1978. Maritime Archaeology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.3.
Murphy, L. 1983. Shipwrecks as Data Base for Human Behavioural Studies. In R. Gould (ed.) Shipwreck Anthropology, Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. pp. 65-89.