Ballast

‘Ballast: laden with history’ - a book by Mats Burström (2018)

I used to think that the archaeosphere was mainly limited in its distribution to land surfaces, apart from wreck-sites and places where reclaimed land had extended coastlines further out into lakes, estuaries and seas. Then I read Burström’s book on ballast - one of the best and most elegant archaeological works I have ever come across. Movement of ballast around the world in the holds of ships, and the dumping of this often artefact-rich geological material far from place of source, has left a veritable underwater archaeological stratigraphy on many parts of the sea floor, especially close to harbours. More than that, it has for centuries, even millennia, been transporting plant and insect and animal species between continents, changing ecologies. As active, vibrant material, its effects on the biosphere have been increasing dramatically from ancient times right through the age of exploration and colonial trade to the present day. I recommend this book.

Burström, M. 2018. Ballast: laden with history, translated by Charlotte Merton. Lund, Sweden: Nordic Academic Press. The book's Amazon page is here