Nautical Archaeology

Originally published as L’archéologie navale by Editions Errance/Actes Sud (Arles, France) in 2005, this new revised and expanded edition is in a condensed and accessible form that highlights many of the principles currently guiding research in nautical archaeology around the world. Well suited for classrooms and providing a handy reference for more advanced scholars and researchers, Pomey and Rieth’s Nautical Archaeology offers, most notably, emphasis on theoretical and conceptual aspects of the evolution of shipbuilding that are largely unfamiliar in the English-speaking academy.

The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology characterized the original publication as “packed with information” and “a stimulating and attractive introduction to the subject.” Now available for the first time in English, the work of Pomey and Rieth provides a concise outline of the conceptual framework and theoretical basis for nautical archaeology. The authors begin with a chapter on basic definitions and statements of the principal issues involved in the discipline before proceeding with a discussion of available sources of information, from ancient iconography to modern excavation, embracing shipbuilding treatises of the Middle Ages and Renaissance along the way. Next, they document the various methods and procedures available to researchers as they observe, document, and study the remains of vessels. Finally, they draw conclusions about directions for future research, along with perspectives on the field of study. 

PATRICE POMEY (1943–2021) served as the emeritus director of research at the Camille Jullian Center for History and Archaeology of the Mediterranean and North Africa in the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) at Aix-Marseille University. ERIC RIETH,  member of the Académie de marine, is the emeritus director of research at the Laboratoire de Médiévistique Occidentale de Paris (CNRS), head of archaeology and ethnography research at the National Marine Museum, and also directs the seminar in medieval and modern nautical archaeology at the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. COLIN CLEMENT is a translator specializing in archaeology and nautical archaeology and the official translator of the Alexandrian Studies Center at CNRS.