AREAS
OF RESEARCH INTEREST
The development of shipwreck
analysis as a scientific discipline: during the 1960's I began developing a form of three-dimensional research,
combining geometric models with standard graphic and archival forms of research to interpret partially preserved
shipwrecks. The
process is being strengthened continuously with defined methodology; it has been published and many of its features
have been adopted by others.
The development of shipbuilding
technology: based on research and reconstruction of ships dating from the Bronze Age to the present century, and
specializing in Mediterranean and North American sailing craft.
Present research centers on the origins of formal naval architecture,
the study of ancient and early medieval ship construction and repair, and the development of databases and graphic
systems to date, identify, and analyze shipwrecks of all periods.
RESEARCH
EXPERIENCE
Consultant, Yassi Ada Expeditions
(reconstructions of 4th-and 7th-century shipwrecks
near Bodrum, Turkey) of the University of Pennsylvania and the Institute
of Nautical Archaeology,
1964-1981.
Consultant, Porticello shipwreck
(study of a 5th-century BC
wreck near Messina, Sicily), sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania, 1971 and 1974.
Reconstructor, Kyrenia Ship
Expedition (reconstruction of a 4th-century BC Greek
merchantman now on display in Crusader Castle, Kyrenia, Cyprus), jointly
sponsored by the University Museum, Oberlin College, and the Institute of Nautical Archaeology, 1971-1975.
Consultant,
UNESCO (Sites and Monuments), 1972-73.
Consultant, Thomas Skofield shipwreck (study and partial retrieval
of a large coal schooner at Sea Isle City, New Jersey), 1972. Removal and measurement sponsored by
Bath Maritime Museum, Bath, Maine.
Project Advisor, The Defense Project (excavation of a Revolutionary
War privateer brig near Castine, Maine), jointly sponsored by INA, Maine Maritime Academy, and Maine State
Museum, 1975-79.
Reconstructor, The Cornwallis
Cave Wreck (excavation of a British vessel scuttled in the
York River, Virginia, in 1781), sponsored by INA and Virginia Historic
Landmarks Commission,
1976.
Reconstructor, The Brown's
Ferry Project (excavation and restoration of an early American coasting vessel at Brown's Ferry, South Carolina), for the University of South
Carolina, 1977-78.
Reconstructor, The Serçe
Limani Medieval Ship Project (excavation and restoration of an 11th-century merchantman wrecked near Marmaris, Turkey), sponsored by INA, 1978-88.
Field School Director, The
Charon Project (excavation of
Cornwallis' flag vessel which
burned and sank at Gloucester Point, Virginia, in 1781), jointly sponsored
by Texas A&M University and Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission), 1980.
Consultant, the San Esteban wreck (restudy of a Spanish plate
wreck sunk at Padre Island, Texas, in 1554), for the Texas Antiquities Committee, 1980-81.
Consultant, The Napoleonic
Wreck (investigation of a late 18th-century blockade ship at
Akko, Israel), for the University of Haifa, 1981.
Reconstructor, the Athlit Ram
Project (study of a classical warship ram and bow timbers), for the University of Haifa, 1981-1987.
Consultant, Ronson Ship Project
(excavation and study of an 18th-century ship in lower
Manhattan), for the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission,
1982.
Project Advisor, Cofferdam
Wreck (excavation of a Revolutionary War vessel at
Yorktown, Virginia), for Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission, 1983-90.
Consultant and designer, Kyrenia
Ship Replica Project (construction of a full-scale sailing
replica of a 4th-century BC merchant ship at Perama, Greece), sponsored
by INA and the Hellenic Institute for the Preservation of Nautical Tradition; launched June, 1985.
Reconstructor, The Herculaneum
Boat Excavation (study and excavation of a 1st-century Roman
boat at Ercolano, Italy), for Scavi di Ercolano and National Geographic Society, 1983-1986.
Advisor,
Caesarea Maritima Exhibition, Smithsonian Institution, 1986-87.
Advisor, Carnegie Museum Egyptian
Boat Project (study and reconstruction of a twelfth-dynasty Egyptian funerary boat), sponsored by Carnegie Museum
of Natural
History, Pittsburgh, 1985-1990.
Reconstructor, The Kinneret
Boat Project (excavation of a nearly intact Roman boat on
the Sea of Galilee), for the Israel Department of Antiquities and Museums,
1986.
Consultant or advisor to Parks
Canada (Marchault and Basque Whaler
projects), National Geographic Society, various museums, agencies, and individuals.
PUBLICATIONS - CHAPTERS, ARTICLES,
AND RESEARCH REPORTS
1975
Construction Techniques of Ancient Ships, Naval
Engineers Journal, 87.5: 85-91.
1976
The Institute's Model Shop.
INA Newsletter 3.1: 1-4.
1978
The Cornwallis Cave Shipwreck, Yorktown, Virginia. The International Journal of Nautical
Archaeology, 7.3: 205-226, with P. F. Johnston and J. O. Sands.
Construction Details of the Brown's Ferry Ship. Beneath the Waters of Time, Texas Antiquities Pub. No. 6: 55-61.
Maximum Results from Minimum Remains.
Beneath the Waters of Time,
Texas Antiquities Pub. No. 6: 53-54.
1979
The Greek Ship.
Changing Interpretations and New Sources in Naval History, R. Love, ed.
New York, Garland Press.
Hull Construction Features of the Brown's Ferry Vessel. Notebook
(official research report), University of South Carolina, 10: 1-29.
The Brown's Ferry Vessel, South Carolina. The International Journal of Nautical
Archaeology, 8.2: 121-142.
The Brown's Ferry Model.
INA Newsletter 6.1: 4-5
Ship Research.
INA Newsletter 6.3: 5-6.
1980
The Medieval Cargo Ship: Evidence from Nautical Archaeology. New Aspects of Naval History, C. L. Symonds, ed. Annapolis, Naval Institute Press.
A Fifth-Rate Shipwreck Named Charon. INA
Newsletter 7.4: 1-5.
1981
The Serçe Liman Medieval Ship.
Underwater Archaeology: The Challenge Before Us, G. Watts ed..
San Marino, Fathom Eight Publications, 106-113.
The Charon
Report (Steffy et al.). Underwater Archaeology: The Challenge
Before Us, G. Watts, ed. San Marino, Fathom Eight Publications,
114-143.
1982
New Research Mediums for Hull Reconstruction. Underwater Archaeology: Proceedings
of the Thirteenth Conference on Underwater Archaeology, D. Keith, ed.
San Marino, Fathom Eight Publications.
The Reconstruction of the 11th-century Serçe Liman Vessel. The
International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, 11.1: 13-34.
The Anchors, with F. H. van Doorninck, and Reconstructing the Hull, chapters in G. F. Bass
and F. H. van Doorninck, Yassi Ada Volume I: A Seventh-Century Byzantine
Shipwreck (INA Monograph Series No.l), College Station.
1983
Nautical Archaeology and the History of Seafaring. American Historical Association Proceedings,
1982. University Microfilms.
The Athlit Ram: A Preliminary Investigation of its Structure, Mariner's
Mirror, 69.3: 229-246.
The Institute's Model Shop Revisited.
INA Newsletter 10.3: 1-5.
Ancient Hull Research.
INA Newsletter 10.4:2.
1984
Excavation of an 11th-century Shipwreck at Serçe Liman, Turkey. National Geographic Society Research Reports,
Washington, 17: 161-182; with G. F. Bass and F. H. van Doorninck, Jr.
Structural Philosophy and Technology: Clues from Shipwrecks. The Greek Trireme of the 5th Century B.C.,
S. McGrail and J. Coates, eds. London.
1985
The Kyrenia Ship: An Interim Report on its Hull Construction. American Journal of Archaeology, 89.1: 71-101.
The Herculaneum Boat: Preliminary Notes on Hull Details. American Journal of Archaeology, 89.3: 519-21.
1986
Ship Reconstruction Spans the Globe and 21 Centuries. INA Newsletter
12.4: 5-6.
1987
Notes on the Construction of the Kinneret Boat. The
International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, 16.4: 325-329.
The Reconstruction of the Eleventh-Century Serçe Liman Vessel. Ships, Seafaring, and Society, T. Runyan, ed. Detroit.
1988
The Thirteen Colonies: English Settlers and Seafarers. Ships and Shipwrecks of the Americas, G. Bass, ed.
London.
Reconstructing an 11th-Century
Ship. INA
Newsletter 15.1: 12.
Reconstructing the Hull.
INA Newsletter 15.3: 14-21.
1989
The Role of Three-dimensional Research in the Kyrenia Ship Reconstruction. Tropis
I (Proceedings of the 1st International Symposium on Ship Construction
in Antiquity), H. Tzalas, ed. Athens, 249-262.
1990
The Boat: A Preliminary Study of its Construction; The Migdal Boat Mosaic (with S. Wachsmann);
and Glossary of Shipbuilding Terms.
The Excavations of an Ancient Boat in the Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinneret), S. Wachsmann, ed.
Atiqot XIX (English Series), Jerusalem.
Problems and Progress in Dating Ancient Vessels by their Construction Features. Tropis
II (Proceedings of the 2nd International Symposium on Ship Construction
in Antiquity), H. Tzalas, ed. Athens, 315-320.
1991
The Mediterranean Shell to Skeleton Transition: A Northwest European Parallel?? Carvel
Construction Technique, R. Reinders and K. Paul, eds. Oxford, 1-9.
1995
Ancient Scantlings: The Projection and Control of Ancient Hull Shapes. Tropis III
(Proceedings of the 3rd International Symposium on Ship Construction in Antiquity), H. Tzalas, ed. Athens, 417-428.
Shipwreck Archaeology; An Essential Medium for Interpreting Ancient Ship Construction. Cyprus
and the Sea, V. Karageorghis and D. Michaelides, eds. Nicosia, 1995, 23-31.
1997
`Atlit Ram.
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East. E. M. Myers, ed. (New York & Oxford): 234-236.
Reconstruction and Sparrow Hawk, entries in J. P. Delgado (ed.), British Museum Encyclopedia of Underwater and Maritime Archaeology, London, 334-36 and 402.
1998
Seldom Discussed Features of Ancient and Medieval Ship Construction. Archaeonautica
vol. 14, P. Pomey and E. Reith, eds.
Aix-en-Provence, 165-69.
Ship Models as Tools for Reconstructing Shipwrecks, Proceedings
of the Western Ship Modelers Conference, 1998. Long Beach, 1998.
1999
Ancient Ship Repair.
Tropis V (Proceedings of
the 5th International Symposium
on Ship Construction in Antiquity), H. Tzalas, ed. Athens, 395-408.
2000
Influences on Shipbuilding Technology.
Down The River To The Sea
(Proceedings of the Eighth International Symposium on Boat and Ship Archaeology, Gdansk 1997), J. Litwin, ed. (Gdansk):
263-67.
2001
A Cargo of Knowledge.
INA Quarterly 28.1: 10-12.
The development of Ancient and Medieval Shipbuilding Techniques. Proceedings;
International Symposium on Archaeology of Medieval and Modern Ships of
Iberian-Atlantic Tradition, Francisco Alves, ed. Lisbon, 49-61.
PUBLICATIONS - BOOKS
1991
The Ram and Bow Timbers: A Structural Interpretation, in L. Casson and J. R. Steffy. eds. The
Athlit Ram (INA Monograph Series No. 3), Texas A&M University Press,College
Station.
1994
Wooden Ship Building and the Interpretation of Shipwrecks. Texas A&M University Press, College
Station. (Second
printing, Chatham Books, London, 2000).
PUBLICATIONS PENDING
A Mediterranean ship construction database; dating and classifying shipwrecks by their
hull remains; accepted for publication in Tropis VI,
Athens (no release date).
A Comparative Analysis of Cypriote Clay Models; in Vassos Karageorghis, The Coroplastic Art of Ancient Cyprus, Vol. VII.
(1996); no further information.
Serçe Limani, Volume I, the first of a three-volume series on the Glass Wreck excavation;
co-authored with G. F. Bass, F. H. VanDoorninck, and S. Matthews. Texas A&M University Press, in press.
PAPERS PRESENTED AT PROFESSIONAL MEETINGS
1975
Reconstructing ancient ships; American Society of Naval Engineers, Washington, D.C.
1976
Assembling treated hull fragments; Association for Historic Preservation, Williamsburg,
Va.
1977
Reconstructing the Kyrenia ship; International Conference on Underwater Archaeology, Ottawa, Canada.
Ancient Greek ship construction: Naval History Symposium, Annapolis, Md.
1978
The Brown's Ferry vessel interpretation, and Maximum results from minimum remains; Conference
on Underwater Archaeology, San Antonio, Texas.
Techniques in ship reconstruction and interpretation; Council for Maritime Archaeology,
London, England.
1979
The medieval cargo ship: evidence from nautical archaeology; Naval History Symposium,
Annapolis.
1981
The Serçe Liman medieval ship, The Charon report, and Reconstruction methodology; Conference on Underwater Archaeology, New Orleans.
Important new information from the analysis of three shipwrecks; North American Society
for Oceanic History, Cleveland, Ohio.
Construction details and new warship revelations from the Athlit Ram; International Symposium
on the Athlit Ram, Haifa, Israel.
1982
New research mediums for the Serçe Liman hull reconstruction, Conference on Underwater
Archaeology, Philadelphia, Pa.
Council of Europe (Field Session on Underwater Archaeology): 7-lecture series; Bodrum,
Turkey.
Nautical archaeology and the history of seafaring; American Historical Association, Washington,
D.C.
1983
Ancient structural details applicable to trireme construction, and The dangers of replication;
International Trireme Conference, National Maritime Museum, London.
1985
Reconstructing ships: the state of the art; Conference on Underwater Archaeology, Boston.
Three-dimensional research techniques in the reconstruction and replication of the Kyrenia
ship; First International Symposium on Ship Construction in Antiquity, Athens, Greece.
1986
Construction and experimental sailing of Kyrenia II; North American Society for Oceanic
History, Galveston.
1987
Trade and technology: new clues from medieval shipwrecks; Delaware Valley Medieval Conference,
Philadelphia.
Problems and progress in dating ancient ships by their construction features; Second Symposium
on Ship Construction in Antiquity, Delphi, Greece.
1988
The Mediterranean shell to skeleton transition: a northwest European parallel?; Fifth International
Symposium on Ship and Boat Archaeology, Amsterdam.
The economics of ancient shipbuilding; First Archaeological Congress, Baltimore.
1989
Publishing shipwrecks for interdisciplinary studies; First Archaeological Congress, Baltimore.
Research models as a medium for shipwreck analysis; Southern Conference on Classical and
Mediterranean Archaeology, Tampa.
Ancient scantlings: the projection and control of Mediterranean hull shapes; Third International
Symposium on Ship Construction in Antiquity, Athens.
1993
Ancient ship repairs; Fifth International Symposium on Ship Construction in Antiquity,
Nauplia, Greece.
Shipwreck archaeology--an essential medium for interpreting ancient ship construction;
Cyprus and the Sea symposium, Nicosia, Cyprus.
1994
Seldom discussed features of ancient ship construction; Seventh International Symposium
on Ship and Boat Archaeology, Tatihou, Normandy, France.
1996
A Mediterranean ship construction database; dating and classifying shipwrecks by their
hull remains; Sixth International Symposium on Ship Construction in Antiquity, Athens.
1997
Influences on shipbuilding technology, Eighth International Symposium on Ship and Boat
Archaeology, Gdansk, Poland.
The role of maritime museums in the study of ancient and medieval Mediterranean shipbuilding
technology, Society for the History of Technology, Pasadena, California.
1998
Ship models as tools for reconstructing shipwrecks, Western Ship Modelers Association,
Long Beach, California.
The development of ancient and medieval shipbuilding techniques, International Symposium
on the Archaeology of Medieval and Modern Ships of Iberian-Atlantic Tradition, Academia de Marinha, Lisbon, Portugal.
INVITED LECTURES (selected listing)
1977
Archaeological Institute of America, 7-city tour.
1978
University of North Wales, Bangor, North Wales University of London, London, England.
1979
Archaeological Institute of America, 6-city tour.
1980
Archaeological Institute of America; 4 cities, 6 lectures.
1981
University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
1983
Academy of Sciences, San Francisco.
1988
Archaeological Institute of America; 3 cities.
1989
Museum of Natural History, Denver.
1990
McCann-Taggert Lecturer, Archaeological Institute of America, Toronto and Ottawa.
1996
University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
1999
Hecht Museum, keynote address for opening of ship gallery, Haifa, Israel
MEMBERSHIP IN PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Archaeological Institute of America
Council for Nautical Archaeology
Hellenic Society for the Preservation of Maritime Tradition (honorary lifetime member)
National Maritime Historical Society
Nautical Research Guild
North American Society for Oceanic History
Society for Nautical Research
MAJOR HONORS AND AWARDS
1985
Fellow, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Special award, Hellenic Society for the Preservation of Maritime Tradition; research and
design award for the construction of the Kyrenia ship replica.
1989
Sara W. and George O. Yamini Endowed Professorship in Nautical Archaeology
