Pottery from Spanish Shipwrecks, 1500-1800.

With this comprehensive analysis of Spanish pottery, a large collection of securely dated examples recovered from shipwrecks appears in print for the first time. Because wrecks provide solid dates and a quantity of artifacts that far exceeds the number normally found on land sites, significant new generalisations now can be made about the role of pottery in the period of the Spanish empire. Marken focuses on olive jars and tableware, the common pottery of the seaman and the everyday colonist. Illustrated with drawings and photographs, this book should help create more accurate typologies and terminologies for these wares. Without condoning the practice of treasure hunting, Marken decided to incorporate finds from legally salvaged wrecks: There is no question that scientific, archaeological investigation of shipwrecks brings us closer to answering the real questions about people, he writes. Ignoring the legally recovered artifacts has left archaeologists years behind in better understanding certain aspects of Spanish material culture. It is within this framework of 'rescue archaeology' that my work was undertaken, in the firm belief that much of the material I was able to record would be unavailable for study a generation hence. Marken analyses collections from 18 shipwrecks that were primarily engaged in trade with the New World or were ships of the Spanish Armada. He discusses the origins of the ships, shipwreck sites and events surrounding each wreck.