Abstract

Contemporary public discourses about the ocean are routinely characterized by scientific and environmentalist narratives that imagine and idealize marine spaces in which humans are absent. In contrast, this collection explores the variety of ways in which people have long made themselves at home at sea, and continue to live intimately with it. In doing so, it brings together both ethnographic and archaeological research – much of it with an explicit Ingoldian approach – on a wide range of geographical areas and historical periods.

“A very ambitious project which engages critically with a timely topic… It crucially brings to the fore the voices and ways of life of those often marginalized or otherwise left out.” • Fiona McCormack, University of Waikato

“Interdisciplinary research is all the rage, but rarely does one find a single volume that manages to weave such varied perspectives and approaches into a fascinating whole.” • Madeleine Hall-Arber, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Tanya J. King lectures in environmental anthropology at Deakin University, Australia. She is a maritime anthropologist, and her research focuses on the social and ecological implications of environmental policy implementation.

Gary Robinson is a senior lecturer in archaeology at Bangor University, North Wales. His main research interest is the prehistoric archaeology of maritime and coastal communities in western Britain and Ireland.