Contemporary philosophy for maritime archaeology : flat ontologies, oceanic thought, and the Anthropocene

While terrestrial archaeology has engaged with contemporary philosophy, maritime archaeology has remained in comparative disciplinary – or subdisciplinary – isolation. However, the issues that humans face in the Anthropocene – from global warming to global pandemics – call for transdisciplinary cooperation, and for thinking together beyond the confines of the human-centered philosophical tradition. Growing areas such as the “blue humanities” and “oceanic thinking” draw directly on our maritime past, even as they ponder the future. Theoretically engaged maritime archaeologists could contribute significantly to these areas of thought, as this volume demonstrates. The essays collected here serve as a jumping off point, which opens new ways for maritime archaeologists to engage with the most important problems of our time and to benefit from the new insights offered by object-oriented and flat ontologies. The book gathers the analytical thinking of archaeologists, philosophers, marine biologists, and media theorists, and pushes those observations deep into the maritime realm. The contributions then branch out, like tentacles or corals, reaching into the lessons of oil spills, cephalopod hideouts, shipwreck literature, ruined monuments, and beached plastics. The volume concludes with a series of critical responses to these papers, which pushes the dialogue into new areas of inquiry. Taken as a whole, the volume emphasizes that the study of the past is more relevant than ever because serious consideration of our transtemporal watery world and all its inhabitants is increasingly necessary for our collective survival. This volume takes the first steps toward this reckoning and, as such, it promises to be an important new contribution to lecture and conference halls around the world where oceans and the Anthropocene are under study. While terrestrial archaeology has engaged with contemporary philosophy, maritime archaeology has remained in comparative disciplinary or subdisciplinary isolation. However, the issues that humans face in the Anthropocene from global warming to global pandemics call for transdisciplinary cooperation, and for thinking together beyond the confines of the human-centered philosophical tradition. Growing areas such as the blue humanities and oceanic thinking draw directly on our maritime past, even as they ponder the future. Theoretically engaged maritime archaeologists could contribute significantly to these areas of thought, as this volume demonstrates. The essays collected here serve as jumping off point, which opens new ways for maritime archaeologists to engage with the most important problems of our time and to benefit from the new insights offered by object-oriented and flat ontologies. The book gathers the analytical thinking of archaeologists, philosophers, marine biologists, and media theorists, and pushes those observations deep into the maritime realm. The contributions then branch out, like tentacles or corals, reaching into the lessons of oil spills, cephalopod hideouts, shipwreck literature, ruined monuments, and beached plastics. The volume concludes with a series of critical responses to these papers, which pushes the dialogue into new areas of inquiry. Taken as a whole, the volume emphasizes that the study of the past is more relevant than ever because serious consideration of our watery world and all its inhabitants is increasingly necessary for our collective survival. This volume takes the first steps toward this reckoning and, as such, it promises to be an important new contribution to lecture and conference halls around the world where oceans and the Anthropocene are under study. Table of Contents Prelude: A History of Maritime Archaeological Thought Peter B. Campbell Collapse, Cataclysm, and Eruption: Alien Archaeologies for the Anthropocene Sara A. Rich and Peter B. Campbell The Shipwreck of Theseus: Philosophy and Maritime Archaeology Graham Harman What Gets Washed Up on the Beach: Shipwreck, Literary Culture, and Objects of Interpretation Steve Mentz Where Land Flows into Sea: An Anthropocene Section Matt Edgeworth Maritime Christening: Anthropomorphism and the Engender(bend)ing of Metaphor Jeremy Killian and Sara A. Rich Complicit Objects and New Materialist Praxis Claire S. Watson Assemblage Theory and the Mediative Practice of Ship Hull Reuse Chelsea M. Cohen The Biggest Museum Gallery in the Whole World: Virtual Excavation and the Musealization of the Seafloor Lisa Yin Han Naufragic Architecture in the Anthropocene Sara A. Rich, Leila Hamdan, and Justyna Hampel Octopodology and Dark Amphorae: The Persistence and Non-Human Afterlives of Objects in the Sea Peter B. Campbell Water as a Hyperfact (reprint) Johan Normark Drift (reprint) ra Ptursdttir Contemporary Philosophies for Maritime Archaeology A Response Joe Flatman OOO, Archaeology, and the Anthropocene: Comments on Maritime Archaeology and Anthropocene Philosophy Christopher Witmore Compelled by Things: A Response to Contemporary Philosophy for Maritime Archaeology Matthew Harpster Theory at Sea: Some Reflections from the Gunwale Bjrnar J. Olsen Conclusion: If on a Winter Night a Ship Wrecks Peter B. Campbell Acknowledgements A History of Maritime Archaeological Thought Peter B. Campbell Collapse, Cataclysm, and Eruption Alien Archaeologies for the Anthropocene Sara A. Rich and Peter B. Campbell The Shipwreck of Theseus Philosophy and Maritime Archaeology Graham Harman What Washes Up on the Beach Shipwreck, Literary Culture, and Objects of Interpretation Steve Mentz An Anthropocene Section Matt Edgeworth Maritime Christening Anthropomorphism and the Engender(bend)ing of Metaphor Jeremy Killian and Sara A. Rich Complicit Objects and New Materialist Praxis Claire S. Watson Assemblage Theory and the Mediative Practice of Ship Hull Reuse Chelsea M. Cohen ‘The Biggest Museum Gallery in the Whole World’ Virtual Excavation and the Musealization of the Seafloor Lisa Yin Han Naufragic Architecture in the Anthropocene Sara A. Rich, Leila Hamdan and Justyna Hampel Octopodology and Dark Amphorae Alien Archaeologies, Reflexivity, and the Non-Human Afterlives of Objects in the Sea Peter B. Campbell Water as a Hyperfact Johan Normark Drift Þóra Pétursdóttir Contemporary Philosophies for Maritime Archaeology A Response Joe Flatman OOO, Archaeology, and the Anthropocene Comments on Maritime Archaeology and Anthropocene Philosophy Christopher Witmore Compelled by Things A Response to Contemporary Philosophy for Maritime Archaeology Matthew Harpster Theory at Sea Some Reflections from the Gunwale Bjørnar J. Olsen If on a Winter’s Night a Ship Wrecks Peter B. Campbell Author Biographies Lege pagina