8,513 research outputs found
The Ubiquitous Hƫrī: Maritime Ethnography, Archaeology and History in the western Indian Ocean
This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Barkhuis Publishing via the ISBN in this recordISBSA 13: Thirteenth International Symposium
on Boat and Ship Archaeology, 8-12 October 2012 Amsterdam, The Netherland
The maritime heritage of Yemen: a focus on traditional wooden "dhows"
This paper investigates the disappearing heritage of Yemenâs large wooden boats (dhows), both in its current socio-economic context and in historical perspective. Fieldwork conducted by members of the MARES project in February 2009 along the coast between Aden and Salif sought to record remaining evidence of wooden boats and their related industries and practices. Wooden boat use has been in sharp decline in recent decades, as dhow-based commerce has declined, and fishing communities have switched to fibreglass vessels. The fieldwork sought to record remaining dhows through simple survey techniques including photography and illustration, as well as close observation. It also involved ethnographic interviews with people who worked on these vessels, either as builders or mariners. In terms of the vessels themselves, the aim was to produce a typology of Yemeni dhows; to record examples of each; to understand construction sequences; and to inventory the distribution of surviving craft. The findings are compared with previous literature on the subject.This research was conducted as part of the MARES Project, a three-year programme
investigating the maritime past and heritage of the Red Sea and Arabian-Persian Gulf.
MARES is based at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies of the University of Exeter
(http://projects.exeter.ac.uk/mares). The programme is generously funded by the Golden
Web Foundation, an educational charity registered in the UK (www.goldenweb.org).
Thanks are also due to the Seven Pillars of Wisdom Trust, which provided additional
financial support for the fieldwork. In addition, the MARES team would like to thank the
following people for their assistance: Dr Abdulla M. Bawazir, President of Yemenâs
General Organisation of Antiquities and Museums (GOAM); Dr Muhammad Taha al-
Asbahi, General Director of Antiquities at GOAM; Dr Raja Batawil, head of GOAM in Aden;
our GOAM-appointed field companion, Salah al-Mansuri; Mr. Hasan Saleh Shihab; Emily
Allardyce, Fuad Mazid al-Matairi and their colleagues at the British Yemeni Language
Institute; our driver and guide Muhammad al-Matairi; Edward Prados, Director of
Amideast; Chris Evans; the British Council; and the British Embassy, SanÊżÄ. The team
wishes to thank also the many individual informants along Yemenâs coast who generously
gave of their time and expertise
Approcci High Tech E Low Tech Nella Documentazione di Imbarcazionitradizionali del Mar Rosso e del Golfo
This is the final version of the article. Available from CISA
Boat and ship engravings at Al Zubarah, Qatar: the dÄw exposed?
This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from ArchaeopressOn-going excavations at the site of the 18thâ19th century walled town of Al Zubarah, Qatar, have uncovered a number of engravings of seagoing craft etched into the dry plasterwork of buildings within the settlement. The engravings are essentially graffiti, carved into the interiors of rooms without aesthetic reference to the original decorative schema of their settings. The resulting images are of varying sophistication and detail â dependent, no doubt, on the skill and inclination of their executors. While the crudest images are rudimentary outlines of hulls, others show detail that demonstrates the familiarity of their creators with boat construction and type â not surprising in a settlement whose raison dâĂȘtre was the livings to be made from the sea. This iconographic vestige provides an insight into the types of vessel their creators used and encountered, and allows us to venture our own identifications of them. It also prompts us to reflect on the nature of the relationship between Al Zubarahâs some-time residents and the sea: the vessels depicted are for the most part a mixture of ocean-going types built within the Gulf or western Indian Ocean region. One, however, is of a European naval vessel, perhaps suggesting the shadow of British imperial power in the Gulf. Finally, the process of identification of these watercraft inspires renewed reflection on the word âdhowâ and its variants, from both a typological and an etymological perspective; these new reflections are presented at the end of this paper
A Saxon Fish Weir and undated fish trap frames near Ashlett Creek, Hampshire, UK: static structures on a dynamic foreshore
This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Springer Verlag via the DOI in this record.The remains of a wooden V-shaped fish weir and associated structures have been
discovered near Ashlett Creek on the tidal mudflats of Southampton Water in
Hampshire, southern Britain. Radiocarbon dating of oak roundwood stakes taken from
the main weir structure date it to the middle Saxon period. Clusters of as-yet undated
roundwood posts within the catchment area of the weir are interpreted as the frames
for fish traps that are assumed to pre- or post-date the operational period of the weir
itself. The weir is contemporary with wooden V-shaped fish weirs found elsewhere in
southern and central Britain, and also Ireland, but its circular catchment âpoundâ
remains restricted, in these islands, to the Solent and Severn estuaries: it has a close
parallel with another Saxon-era weir on the nearby Isle of Wight. It also shows
striking structural similarities with examples in use today in Basse Normandy, on the
southern shore of the English Channel. The paper discusses the function and operation
of the weir, and places it in its social and historical context. Regressive cartography
demonstrates that the structures have become exposed as a result of saltmarsh retreat
in this area of Southampton Water since the 19th century. The radiocarbon dates
returned for the posts demonstrate that this transgression of the marsh must have been
preceded by a prolonged period of progradation, which covered and preserved the
site; its subsequent re-exposure has negative implications for its survival.The fieldwork underpinning this research was carried out using equipment
and facilities provided by the Centre for Maritime Archaeology of the University of
Southampton. The authors themselves met incidental costs. Radiocarbon dating was
financed from an internal University of Exeter research allowance
The Dhow's last redoubt? Vestiges of wooden boatbuilding traditions in Yemen
This is an accepted version of an article that went on to be
published in the Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies
in 2010. The reference for the published version is:
Agius, D.A., Cooper, J.P., Jansen van Rensburg, J.and Zazzaro,
C., 2010 " The dhow's last redoubt? Vestiges of wooden
boatbuilding traditions in Yemen". Proceedings of the Seminar for
Arabian Studies 40: 71â84.
Please use the published version in any citations.The final version of the article is available from Archaeopress via the link in this record.Researchers from the MARES Project visited Yemen in February 2009 in
order to investigate the building and use of traditional wooden boats (âdhowsâ,
in English parlance) in the country. The survey covered the coastline from
Aden to Salif in the Red Sea, and visited centres of traditional dhow building
and use, including Ghureira, Mocha and Khokha. The project aimed to assess
the state of the industry, establish a vessel typology, understand construction
processes, learn about the use of these vessels, and compile a lexicon of
boatbuilding and nautical terms. This article offers the preliminary findings of
the survey, pending more comprehensive publication in the future. The survey
found that, in all locations visited, the building of new vessels had rapidly
diminished in the preceding decade, and had now all but ceased. The only
ongoing activity witnessed during the survey was repairs to existing wooden
craft. In formerly large boat-building centres, wooden boat-builders, mostly
elderly, have ceased work, while younger men were building fishing craft
using fibreglass â the material used in the great majority of vessels in Yemen
today. A preliminary typology of surviving vessel was established. The doubleended
cargo-carrying za<Ä«mahs and zÄrĆ«qs were recorded only as
2
abandoned hulks. Double-ended <obrÄ«s and transom-sterned âlarge hĆ«rÄ«sâ,
with their stern-quarter âfinsâ, continued to be used in small numbers for sein
fishing and transporting livestock. Again, most examples were abandoned.
Various forms of small log and plank hĆ«rÄ« âcanoesâ were observed, few still in
use, while the log-raft ramas survives on the Red Sea coast. The terms used
for these vessel types form part of a linguistic survey of dhow activity in
Yemen.This research was conducted as part of the MARES Project, a three-year
programme investigating the maritime past and heritage of the Red Sea and
Arabian-Persian Gulf. MARES is based at the Institute of Arab and Islamic
Studies at the University of Exeter (http://projects.exeter.ac.uk/mares). The
programme is funded by the Golden Web Foundation, an educational charity
registered in the UK (www.goldenweb.org), to which our gratitude is due.
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Thanks are also due to the Seven Pillars of Wisdom Trust, which provided
additional financial support for the fieldwork. In addition, the MARES team
would like to thank the following people for their assistance: Dr Abdulla M.
Bawazir, President of Yemenâs General Organisation of Antiquities and
Museums (GOAM); Dr Muhammad Taha al-Asbahi, General Director of
Antiquities at GOAM; Dr Raja Batawil, head of GOAM in Aden; our GOAMappointed
field companion, Salah al-Mansuri; Mr. Hasan Saleh Shihab; Emily
Allardyce, Fuad Mazid al-Matairi and their colleagues at the British Yemeni
Language Institute; our driver and guide Muhammad al-Matairi; Edward
Prados, Director of Amideast; Chris Evens; the British Council; and the British
Embassy. Last but not least, the team wishes to thank the many individual
informants along Yemenâs coast who gave their assistance to its research
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