JCHS Presents: The Origins of Maritime Sailing - An Archaeology Lecture with Gary Wessen

When did people first go to sea?

Investigating the origins and early history of sailing on the oceans is a particularly difficult challenge for archaeologists. Since ancient boats were made of organic materials which are rarely preserved for long periods of time, direct evidence is lacking, and claims require indirect arguments. The view is also limited by our knowledge of past sea levels and how they affected the world’s geography.

This presentation will consider some anthropological ideas about cultural adaptations to maritime environments, what kinds of indirect arguments can be used to evaluate possible evidence, and a summary of what currently available evidence from around the world suggests about the antiquity of this type of activity.

Gary Wessen holds an M.A. and a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Washington State University and has operated as an archaeological consultant in the Northwest since 1983. He has 50 years of archaeological fieldwork experience in western North America, having worked in Mexico, California, Oregon, Idaho, Washington, and southeast Alaska. Most of his experience, however, has been in coastal and lowland forest settings in western Washington. To date, Wessen has worked with or conducted ten large-scale excavation projects, 96 small-scale site testing and evaluation projects, and more than 500 archaeological site survey projects.

Register via SimpleTix
https://www.simpletix.com/e/the-origins-of-marine-sailing-with-gary-we-tickets-143585