Maritime communities and traditions discussed within archaeological discourse, imply either small, contemporary, indigenous communities or folklore traditions from European or North American contexts. The article discusses small-scale tradition and local maritime practices. There are three main strands within this subject—oral histories and folklore traditions, studies of contemporary “traditional” boats, and ethnography that has a maritime locus of study. This article gives a review of these three sources of information on maritime communities and traditions, and addresses the history and context of each research field. Finally, it touches on new directions in studies of maritime communities and traditions, focusing on the notion of maritime heritage. The study of maritime traditions explores the uses to which maritime archaeological knowledge is put in the contemporary world and the cultural and even the socioeconomic politics behind many of the archaeological projects.
