Postmedieval Ships and Seafaring in the West
Postmedieval maritime archaeology is focused more on naval ships than classical or medieval maritime archaeology. Merchant ship archaeology lived for many years in the shadow of naval ships. Ships and seafaring were an essential part of that growth and expansion, connecting remote parts of the world in a global economy. The period after 1400 is characterized by growth and bureaucratization in most of Europe. There were major developments in ship construction after 1400. In the Mediterranean, frame-based design and construction methods reached a stage of sophisticated geometrical precision. Mediterranean techniques began to be adopted along the Atlantic coast. The demographic and economic recovery of the fifteenth century and the globalization of seafaring lead to the use of a wider range of ship sizes. Privateering was a profitable enterprise in wartime. The growth of maritime archaeology was tied directly to popular cultural interest in perceived high points in national histories.