Page 373 - Green - Maritime Archaeology: A Technical Handbook. 2nd ed

352 Maritime Archaeology: A Technical Handbook, Second Edition
are highly specialized fields. General methods of dating, particularly related to authenticity, have been reviewed by Flemming (1975). Material analysis includes the various forms of chemical compositional analysis (see, for example, Bishop et al., 1982) and radiography, all of which can be used to learn more about the structure of the artifacts and how they were made. Other types of scientific study involve investigation of bones to determine health and diet, and pollen analysis which can provide information about the climate (Scott, 1986). The list of different types of scientific study are endless.
IV. HISTORICAL MATERIAL
The use of historical material will vary according to the types of mar- itime archaeological sites under investigation. Some sites can be classified as submerged terrestrial sites, these include sunken harbors as well as sites which were originally constructed in the water such as lake villages and defensive structures. There are also ships—either wrecked under water or, more rarely, buried on land. It is the nature of the archaeological object or site that dictates the way in which it will be studied and interpreted; if it is under water, the techniques discussed in this book will be appropriate to survey the site and then, if necessary, to excavate it. However, it is in the archaeological interpretation of the respective sites that the distinctions become evident. Submerged habitation sites are an extension of the process of archaeology that is carried out on land, just as the ship buried on land falls more within the scope of shipwreck archaeology.
Examples of ships on land include the 7th century Saxon Sutton Hoo site, where the vessel was brought onto the land to be part of a ritual burial, as well as vessels that sank in places that have become dry land. Similarly, terrestrial sites can range from port sites such as Caesarea, which have par- tially subsided into the sea and were partially built in the sea, to inundated cities such as Port Royal, to crannogs, and lake villages. Within these areas of study, written history or records may survive which have relevance to the site or the material from the site. Because there is written history of one form or another from very early times, most sites will usually have some component of research related to historical matters. In the land-based sites, the historical study, together with the archaeological interpretation is well established. However, for shipwreck sites the situation is different. Apart from some early, land-based excavations of Viking ships, the archaeology of shipwrecks is quite new. As a result, the techniques of interpretation of the archaeology and the integration of the historical record are even less