In 2023, during the underwater archaeological documentation of the port of Puteoli, a submerged Nabataean temple was located and partially investigated. The authors present the first results of these new research activities, including a reconstruction of part of the building and details of two altars and some inscribed slabs.

The coastline of Cyrenaica, Libya, is rich in cultural heritage dating from prehistory to the modern periods. Despite the region's long-standing and strong connection to the sea, maritime archaeology remains a peripheral, but growing, branch of archaeology in Libya. This paper aims to provide an overview of the maritime projects that have been carried out in Cyrenaica in the past. Furthermore, it will highlight the main threats and damages that coastal heritage faces today and will provide some suggestions on how the discipline could develop in the future. The Cyrenaica Coastal Survey (CCS), a collaboration between the Maritime Endangered Archaeology (MarEA) project and the Department of Antiquities (DoA), Libya, will serve as a case study of an ongoing project that documents and assesses the condition of sites along the Cyrenaican coast between Tocra and Apollonia.

Archaeological research conducted in Morocco over the last two decades has revealed a wealth of diachronic maritime cultural heritage resources, under water and in the coastal zone. However, observation and study has revealed that natural and anthropogenic threats are impacting these resources. Given the challenges to managing maritime cultural heritage (MCH) resources in a country with such an extensive coastline and limited human managerial resources, the national heritage agency and external research institutions have developed methodologies that in part aim at mitigating these threats. This development is illustrated through three projects, briefly outlined here: the Oued Loukkos Survey, the CBDAMM Project and the MarEA Project. These projects incorporate approaches that have been tailored to the Moroccan context, considering the type of resources, the extent of the coastline, types of threats, legislation, and people and institutions involved. In conclusion, this article stresses that an interdisciplinary methodological approach to documentation is necessary in order to inform successful mitigation strategies and to plan for future interventions of MCH.

Maritime archaeology has been identified as a significant field among the humanities that could contribute to the global sustainable development agenda. This article explores the relevance of maritime archaeological studies to initiatives of climate action. Βy reviewing the contributions of various state-of-the-art projects and by linking their aims and outcomes to specific targets of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the author highlights the benefits of involving maritime archaeological research in the pursuit of sustainability and climate resilience. This involvement could play a key role in reinforcing human-centred and culturally aware solutions to the current climate change effects that threaten human populations, especially in maritime regions. It is hoped that this discussion will inspire researchers in the humanities, archaeology, and maritime archaeology in particular, to use their expertise within the framework provided by the sustainable development agenda to help build a better future.

There is a lack of broad representation in archaeology generally, and in a specialized field such as underwater archaeology, this issue is only exacerbated. Underwater archaeological sites are often “out of sight, out of mind,“” creating a general lack of awareness of underwater cultural heritage and career prospects in many communities. Coupled with a lack of education and the additional demands of working in a submerged environment (e.g., scuba diving), there is a striking lack of diversity in underwater archaeology. Overall, underwater archaeologists are a largely homogeneous group, particularly along the lines of race and wealth—categories that often overlap. In the context of asking broader questions such as “Why are there so few underwater archaeologists of color?” and “How can we do better?” this article outlines the barriers to inclusivity writ large in underwater archaeology and provides solutions for increasing diversity and accessibility in the field, including specific opportunities and resources for underrepresented groups to “get their feet wet.”

The ‘Maritime Endangered Archaeology’ (MarEA) project is conducting remote, large-scale identification and assessment of vulnerable maritime heritage to assist in its management in the face of challenges such as climate change and rapid urbanisation.

China’s broad geopolitical strategy and positioning for global influence includes its averred legal position in relation to its sovereignty and jurisdiction in the South China Sea. A response to this legal position was the Philippines’ initiation of arbitral proceedings constituted under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Despite the non-participation of China in these proceedings, the arbitral decision of 2016 clarified a number of legal provisions pertinent to the ongoing territorial and maritime disputes in the South China Sea. This decision impacted directly on China’s assertion of sovereign and jurisdictional historical title or rights, which, in part, relies on evidence obtained from underwater cultural heritage and the associated maritime archaeology. This article critically evaluates China’s maritime archaeology program and its policy with respect to underwater cultural heritage in light of the 2016 arbitral decision and the underlying international law of the sea. While recognizing that China’s policy is not inconsistent with its broader heritage policy, and its national approach to the protection of underwater cultural heritage, this article argues that this cannot be used to support China’s South China Sea claims and is not only misplaced, such as to pose a risk to the archaeological record, but also inconstant with international developments in the form of the 2001 United Nations Convention of the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage.

The western seaways – an arc of sea stretching from the Channel Islands in the south, up through the Isles of Scilly, the Isle of Man, and the Outer Hebrides to Orkney in the north – have long been seen as crucial to our understanding of the processes which led to the arrival of the Neolithic in Britain and Ireland in the centuries around 4000 cal bc. The western seaways have not, however, been considered in detail within any of the recent studies addressing the radiocarbon chronology of the earliest Neolithic in that wider region. This paper presents a synthesis of all existing 5th and 4th millennia cal bc radiocarbon dates from islands within the western seaways, including 50 new results obtained specifically for this study. While the focus here is insular in a literal sense, the project’s results have far reaching implications for our understanding of the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in Britain and Ireland and beyond. The findings broadly fit well with the Gathering Time model of Whittle et al., suggesting that the earliest dated Neolithic in this zone falls into the c. 3900–3700 cal bc bracket. However, it is also noted that our current chronological understanding is based on comparatively few dates spread across a large area. Consequently, it is suggested that both further targeted work and an approach that incorporates an element of typo-chronology (as well as absolute dating) is necessary if we are to move forward our understanding of the processes associated with the appearance of the first Neolithic material culture and practices in this key region.

Archaeological sites in Croatia's shallow waters are mentioned in written sources from the sixteenth century, and since the eighteenth century they have been used as evidence for the sinking of the Eastern Adriatic coast. It was at the end of the same century that the first Roman shipwreck in Croatian waters was reported. Sponge divers and coral hunters raised archaeological finds from the seabed off the Croatian coast, thus contributing to the creation of many private and monastic collections. Isolated campaigns aimed at protecting underwater cultural heritage began in the 1950s, and by 1970 these efforts became part of a well-organized system. Although the lack of systematic research remains notable, a number of surveys and rescue excavations have enriched our knowledge of ancient seafaring along the Croatian coast and have contributed to the study of the maritime environment. Some well-preserved shipwrecks from classical antiquity and the modern era show excellent potential for the in situ protection and presentation of Croatian underwater cultural heritage.

Archaeological excavations in Kuwait have revealed the earliest remains anywhere of sea-going boats. The author explains these remains and the distribution of Ubaid pottery as evidence for a system of maritime exchange in the Arabian Neolithic driven by status and ceremony.

Introduction

The study of maritime archaeology is a relatively new activity in Northern Ireland. This paper introduces the approach that has been adopted in investigating the maritime cultural landscape and takes a detailed look at the maritime archaeology of Strangford Lough.

Only in the last decade has government in Northern Ireland been responsible for the management of maritime archaeology. The Department of the Environment agency, Environment and Heritage Service (EHS), administers the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973 in Northern Ireland's territorial waters. Having no knowledge of the subject and faced with the management of shipwrecks, EHS Grst created a register of known shipwrecks. A Senior Fellow, Colin Breen, was appointed in 1993 in the Institute of Irish Studies at Queen's University Belfast. Using docurnentary sourc:es such as Lloyd's List and Lloyd's Register, together with Parlianientary Sessional papers and many other documentary sources, he identified some 3000 wrecks around Northern Ireland’s short coastline (Breen 1996).