The study of ships and sea-faring is often called maritime or marine archaeology, and includes the underwater study of shipwrecks, but also the study of ancient voyages, inscriptions and written documents about sailing voyages and commerce, and ship construction.
The earliest open sea voyage we know happened is the colonization of Australia, between Sunda and Sahul, about 40,000 years ago; but we haven't found any boats or rafts yet. The earliest rafts found yet are from around 9000 years ago. The oldest ship (made of cut planks) found so far is the so-called Solar Boat on the Giza Plateau of Egypt, dated to 2600 BC.
Ships and Shipwrecks: Iulia Felix, Uluburun, Oseburg Ship Burial, H3 at As-Sabiyah (Kuwait), Abydos (Egypt), Sutton Hoo (England)
Books: Maritime Heritage of the Cayman Islands, Archaeology of Piracy
Universities with Grad Programs in Maritime Archaeology
This glossary entry is a part of the About.com Guide to the Subdisciplines of Archaeology, and part of the Dictionary of Archaeology.
