Maritime trade in the Gulf: The 11th and 12th centuries
Abstract In the eleventh century, the great port of Siraf collapsed, and was replaced by Kish. The latter, however, never attained the size or wealth of Siraf. The ‘failure’ of Kish is a symptom of a depression in the maritime trade of the Gulf, caused by a decline in demand for imported goods in Iran and Iraq. This decline, attributed to political fragmentation following the fall of the Buyids, was aggravated by the diversion of trade to the Red Sea. The historical and the archaeological data on these events point to fundamentally similar conclusions.
Pushing the Boat Out: A study of spatial organisation andharbour spaces in the early Swahili ports of the Zanzibar Archipelago, 550-1100 CE
The aim of this thesis is to identify maritime activity and patterns of spatial organisation through archaeological survey at first millennium coastal settlements in the Zanzibar Archipelago, in order to explore the nature of proto-Swahili harbours and evaluate the role of maritime activity as a component of proto-Swahili settlement in the region. Despite frequent scholarly reference to the maritime cultural identity of the Swahili there has been little consideration of the maritime archaeology of first millennium East African coastal settlements. Although intertidal zones associated with later sites have been surveyed, no investigation has ever been conducted into the nature of proto-Swahili harbours. The work presents an inductive investigation of proto-Swahili harbours between the sixth and eleventh centuries in the Zanzibar Archipelago, based on observations of industrial and maritime activity in open areas along the shorelines of Swahili ports. 
This thesis focuses on the geophysical survey, GIS analysis, and evaluation of the maritime areas of three contemporary sites; Unguja Ukuu (c. 600-1100 CE) and Fukuchani (c. 550-800 CE) on Zanzibar, and Tumbe (c. 600-950 CE) on Pemba. The analysis demonstrates the existence of communal harbourfront activity areas hosting iron-working, crafting, and trade, and a previously unknown shoreline mosque. The comparison of the three sites indicates a pattern of maritime activity and settlement organisation in the Zanzibar Archipelago based on knowledgeable exploitation of the maritime cultural landscape. It is argued that the proto-Swahili coastal settlements of the Zanzibar Archipelago were deliberately located on beaches with shallow, sheltered harbours and convenient land-sea access in order to exploit the near-shore coastscape. Maritime activity therefore appears to have been an important component of proto-Swahili settlement from the earliest phases of permanent occupation, whilst the construction of shoreline mosques in the ninth century reflects the development of a syncretic maritime-Islamic coastal Swahili identity.
Age of Raised Beach Deposits of Southwestern Britain
FOR many years there has been a divergence of opinion concerning the age of the raised beaches which underlie glacial and periglacial deposits on the coasts of the southern Irish Sea Basin and the Bristol Channel. After the work of George1, Zeuner2 suggested that the widespread raised beaches of south Wales and southern Ireland were formed during the last Interglacial. According to this view the beaches should be of the same age as the Eemian deposits of Continental Europe and the Ipswichian of south-east England3. On the other hand, many authors have assigned the beaches to the great interglacial (Hoxnian). Mitchell4 suggested that many beaches beneath an altitude of 100 ft O.D. were formed at this time, and this interpretation has also been put forward by Stephens5 with reference to the south-west peninsula of England; Martin6 with reference to the east coast of Ireland; and Synge7,8 with reference to the Lleyn Peninsula and west Wales. More recently, Bryant9 has applied the same dating to the raised beaches of south-west Ireland, Bowen10 to the Patella beach of Gower, and Stephens and Synge11 have re-stated their views in a more comprehensive form.