On the Ocean

The Mediterranean and the Atlantic from prehistory to AD 1500

Sir Barry Cunliffe

The story of the development of seafaring on the Mediterranean and the Atlantic from early prehistory to about AD 1500
It explores the attitude of humans to the sea and what drove men to chance their luck and their lives in a hostile environment always regarded with awe
Barry Cunliffe considers European history from the point of view of the development of seafaring
It examines the complex emotional relationship of humans with the sea

On the Ocean

The Mediterranean and the Atlantic from prehistory to AD 1500

Sir Barry Cunliffe

Description

For humans the sea is, and always has been, an alien environment. Ever moving and ever changing in mood, it is a place without time, in contrast to the land which is fixed and scarred by human activity giving it a visible history. While the land is familiar, even reassuring, the sea is unknown and threatening. By taking to the sea humans put themselves at its mercy. It has often been perceived to be an alien power teasing and cajoling. The sea may give but it takes.

Why, then, did humans become seafarers? Part of the answer is that we are conditioned by our genetics to be acquisitive animals: we like to acquire rare materials and we are eager for esoteric knowledge, and society rewards us well for both. Looking out to sea most will be curious as to what is out there--a mysterious island perhaps but what lies beyond? Our innate inquisitiveness drives us to explore.

Barry Cunliffe looks at the development of seafaring on the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, two contrasting seas-- the Mediterranean without a significant tide, enclosed and soon to become familiar, the Atlantic with its frightening tidal ranges, an ocean without end. We begin with the Middle Palaeolithic hunter gatherers in the eastern Mediterranean building simple vessels to make their remarkable crossing to Crete and we end in the early years of the sixteenth century with sailors from Spain, Portugal and England establishing the limits of the ocean from Labrador to Patagonia. The message is that the contest between humans and the sea has been a driving force, perhaps the driving force, in human history.

On the Ocean

The Mediterranean and the Atlantic from prehistory to AD 1500

Sir Barry Cunliffe

1. Those in Peril on the Sea
2. The Combat that is called Navigation
3. Taking to the Sea
4. Two Seas, Many Responses: 5300-1200 B.C.
5. The Eastern Mediterranean Cauldron: 5300-1200 B.C.
6. Exploring the Ends of the World: 1200-600 B.C.
7. Of Ships and Sails: a Technical Interlude
8. Into the Outer Ocean: 600-100 B.C.
9. The Atlantic Community: 100 B.C.-A.D. 500
10. An End and a Beginning: A.D. 350-800
11. The Age of the Northmen: A.D. 780-1100
12. The New European Order: A.D. 1100-1400
13. To the Other Side of the World: A.D. 1400-1510
14. Reflections on the Ocean
Guide to Further Reading
Illustration Sources
Index

On the Ocean

The Mediterranean and the Atlantic from prehistory to AD 1500

Sir Barry Cunliffe

Author Information

Barry Cunliffe taught archaeology in the Universities of Bristol and Southampton and was Professor of European Archaeology at the University of Oxford from 1972 to 2008, thereafter becoming Emeritus Professor. He has excavated widely in Britain (Fishbourne, Bath, Danebury, Hengistbury Head, Brading) and in the Channel Islands, Brittany, and Spain, and has been President of the Council for British Archaeology and of the Society of Antiquaries, Governor of the Museum of London, and a Trustee of the British Museum. He is currently a Commissioner of English Heritage. His many publications include The Ancient Celts (1997), Facing the Ocean (2001), The Druids: A Very Short Introduction (2010), Britain Begins (2012), and By Steppe, Desert, and Ocean (2015), all published by Oxford University Press. He received a knighthood in 2006.

On the Ocean

The Mediterranean and the Atlantic from prehistory to AD 1500

Sir Barry Cunliffe

Reviews and Awards

Winner of the Keith Muckelroy Award from The Nautical Archaelogy Society

"This beguiling, thought-provoking, sumptuously illustrated, and engaging book is essential reading." --Current World Archaeology

"'On the Ocean' is a magnificent book, being carefully crafted and requiring all of Barry Cunliffe's encyclopaedic knowledge. The image portrayed, through multilateral means, offers a coherent narrative that can be followed through different times and spaces, offering both the overall view and the detailed developments. Stefan Vasilache, Journal of Ancient History and Archaeology No. 4.4

"On the Ocean is a book all nautical (and terrestrial) archaeologists should read... It provides a comprehensive overview from a seafaring perspective of the Mediterranean and Atlantic from the beginnings of humankind's voyaging in these waters to the discovery of the Americas." -- Colin Martin (University of St Andrews), The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology

"This is a stunning work, handsome and massive, its author a distinguished and prolific archaeologist. The maps offer a 'sea-wise view of the world,' and their unconventional projections bring readers more deeply into the narrative, which is enhanced by numerous color photographs....[T]hose with a serious interest in the subject will find this splendid, challenging book immensely rewarding....Essential."--J. C. Perry, CHOICE

"The book adopts a familiar format to Cunliffe's other recent volumes and supplies everything we have come to expect. It is hugely ambitious in scope, fluently written and beautifully illustrated with panoramic photographs of landscapes and monuments, plus trademark mapping... In betwe en, the narrative takes in deep geological history, the nature of winds, tides and currents, the night sky, the peopling of islands and coastal areas and details of ship- and boat-building technology." -- Robert Witcher, Antiquity Reviews, December 2017

"An absorbing and lively account of the early Atlantic and Mediterranean. Importantly, it reflects the latest research and delves deeply into the motives of those who sailed them: not just where and how they travelled, but what fears these seas evoked."--History Today

"A grand and beautifully illustrated work, offering a fascinating perspective from which to understand human development and achievement."--Michael Scott, BBC History Magazine

"[T]he total effect of On the Ocean is to encourage a new way of looking at European history using a maritime perspective. I hope it changes the way people think: it is good enough to do so."--Felipe Fernández-Armesto, Literary Review

"This is a stunning work, handsome and massive, its author a distinguished and prolific archaeologist... Those with a serious interest in the subject will find this splendid, challenging book immensely rewarding."--CHOICE Reviews

On the Ocean

The Mediterranean and the Atlantic from prehistory to AD 1500

Sir Barry Cunliffe

From Our Blog

Humankind's battle to conquer the seas

The relationship, through history, between humans and the sea has been one of conflict and conquest. The dangers of traveling on such a fickle, treacherous, and alien environment could easily mean death for early seafarers and explorers (and indeed it still can today). What is even more impressive, and perhaps mind-boggling, is that those venturing to sea in pre-history did not know what they would find, if anything at all. So why did humans first take to the sea? What drove them to surf and sail into the unknown? One reason may be our inquisitive nature.

Posted on October 22, 2017

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