Negotiating a shipwreck: Actor-Network Theory and Maritime Cultural Landscape perspectives on a Late Medieval Shipwreck in the IJsselmeer

This thesis focuses on late medieval shipwrecks in Northwestern Europe, emphasizing the recently discovered wreck W149, dated to the second half of the 15th century. While people might associate shipwrecks with treasure hunting, maritime archaeology demonstrates that shipwrecks offer far more than material wealth, they are unique sources of historical knowledge and its material remnants. Ships represent both technological innovation and human decision-making, and studying them provide insights into the maritime, economic, and cultural landscapes of past societies. This research highlights the role of shipwrecks not only as physical remains but also as an active participant and result of broader tangible and intangible networks. Since the 1960s, maritime archaeology has struggled to establish a widely accepted theoretical framework. Much research has concentrated on identifying known historical ship types, such as cogs and hulks, and tracing their supposed evolvement over time....Show moreThis thesis focuses on late medieval shipwrecks in Northwestern Europe, emphasizing the recently discovered wreck W149, dated to the second half of the 15th century. While people might associate shipwrecks with treasure hunting, maritime archaeology demonstrates that shipwrecks offer far more than material wealth, they are unique sources of historical knowledge and its material remnants. Ships represent both technological innovation and human decision-making, and studying them provide insights into the maritime, economic, and cultural landscapes of past societies. This research highlights the role of shipwrecks not only as physical remains but also as an active participant and result of broader tangible and intangible networks. Since the 1960s, maritime archaeology has struggled to establish a widely accepted theoretical framework. Much research has concentrated on identifying known historical ship types, such as cogs and hulks, and tracing their supposed evolvement over time. Although typologies provide useful historical narratives, they can also restrict the interpretive potential of archaeological remains, oversimplify technological differences, and ignore the human choices involved in ship construction. This thesis argues for a move beyond these typological narratives, showing a perspective that emphasizes context and function and treats shipwrecks as active participants in complex maritime systems. To achieve this, the study combines Westerdahl’s Maritime Cultural Landscape (MCL) framework with Latour’s Actor-Network Theory (ANT). The MCL shows the connections between harbours, sea routes, shipyards, and wrecks within maritime and terrestrial landscapes, while ANT regards ships, timbers, and artefacts as actors within dynamic networks. By integrating these frameworks, W149 is studied both as a material object and as a mediator connecting social, technological, and external environmental factors. This approach provides a more nuanced view of the ship’s construction, purpose, and interactions within historical trade and navigational systems in the Northern Zuiderzee. The research focusses on questions concerning W149’s construction techniques, structural features, and operational history, placing the wreck within a broader maritime and economic landscape. It explores how ANT and MCL can be used to interpret archaeological remains, revealing the links between human decisions, shipbuilding traditions, and the maritime environment. Comparing the shipwreck with other late medieval shipwrecks and providing historical allows for a detailed understanding of its significance. A multidisciplinary methodology is executed, combining underwater survey, photogrammetry, and historical research. Multibeam recordings and diving documentation shows W149’s timbers, fastenings, and repairs in more detail. These findings are analysed within a new theoretical framework to show the ship’s operational role and the networks it participated in and what network it was constructed of. Ultimately, this thesis proposes a new way of looking at shipwrecks within maritime archaeology, moving away from rigid typologies toward a dynamic, context-driven interpretation of shipwrecks. By treating W149 as both a network and an actor within its Maritime Cultural Landscape, this research expands knowledge of late medieval shipbuilding, trade, and seafaring practices, while providing the first steps in developing a replicable framework for studying historical artefacts in ways that highlight their functional, social, and environmental significance.Show less

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Negotiating a shipwreck: Actor-Network Theory and Maritime Cultural Landscape perspectives on a Late Medieval Shipwreck in the IJsselmeer