X Marks the Spot: The Archaeology of Piracy

New Perspectives on Maritime History and Nautical Archaeology

by Russell K. Skowronek (Editor), Charles R. Ewen (Editor)

“The first comprehensive, scholarly look at the artifactual evidence of real pirates, recovered at both shipwrecks and known pirate bases.”— Archaeology Magazine  "The reader unused to digesting professional publications will, pardon the pun, sail through this book as if it were a collection of novellas! Not only will he/she learn about the realities of trade in the Caribbean and politics in the time of pirates, but will be treated to the most interesting bits of ephemera such as an inventory of the legendary Captain Morgan's estate. This is the definitive book on Pirates and the research being done to dispel all of the fables."— Dirtbrothers.org  “Articles in  X Marks the Spot  cover a wide range of pirate wrecks and legacies from the Golden Age of Piracy, and give the reader a glimpse into what might be the reality of pirate life and death."— Archaeology.about.com  "A serious attempt to determine, through examination of both terrestrial and shipwreck sites, if pirates left such unambiguous traces in the archaeological record that their presence can be recognized in future excavations. Fascinating!"--George F. Bass, founder, Institute of Nautical Archaeology                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
"Piracy occupies an adaptive niche dating back to the very beginnings of maritime enterprise. This volume reclaims that predacious profession from the realm of the unusual and the unique and presents it afresh as a persistent subsystem of normal commerce."--Thomas N. Layton, San Jose State University "Piracy is one of the world’s oldest professions on the water. In this volume, a group of leading scholars literally digs into the subject to offer the first comprehensive archaeological look at pirates. . . . The definitive book on the archaeology of piracy."--James P. Delgado, executive director, Vancouver Maritime Museum "A most welcome contribution on the subject of piracy, one that has rarely been systematically addressed by archaeologists."--Barto Arnold, Institute of Nautical Archaeology, Texas A&M University

 This collection piques the imagination with historical evidence about the actual exploits of pirates as revealed in the archaeological record. The recent discovery of the wreck of Blackbeard's Queen Anne’s Revenge , off Beaufort Inlet, North Carolina, has provoked scientists to ask, What is a pirate? Were pirates sea-going terrorists, lawless rogues who plundered, smuggled, and illegally transported slaves, or legitimate corsairs and privateers? Highlighting such pirate vessels as the Speaker , which sailed in the Indian Ocean, and the Whydah , the first pirate ship discovered in North America (near the tip of Cape Cod), the contributors analyze what constitutes a pirate ship and how it is different from a contemporary merchant or naval vessel. Examining excavated underwater "treasure sites" and terrestrial pirate lairs found off the coast of Madagascar, throughout the Caribbean, and within the United States, the authors explore the romanticized "Golden Age of Piracy," a period brimming with the real-life exploits of Captain Kidd, Blackbeard, Henry Morgan, and the "gentleman pirate" Jean Lafitte. This book will appeal to the general public, with special interest to anthropologists, archaeologists, historians, and divers.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Archaeology, Pirates

368 pages, Paperback

First published March 25, 2007

Reviews

[John Driscoll]

This is a rather dry, academic work about pirate-related archaeology, as in the excavation of sites, wrecks, etc. that are related to pirate activity. I saw it in a museum gift shop and wanted to check it out, so I got it through the library. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to get more than about 25 pages in, so I can't give it a proper review.

It's a bit of a dry and academic text, but that's to be expected given the archaeological focus. I would have liked to give this more time, but I simply can't right now. Hopefully I'll come back to it eventually.

[Myriam Chercuitte LeBlanc]

It's an interesting book that depicted well the difference between our cultural view and what is known based on the archives and archaeology. Even though there's a lot of technical words, I think this book can be read and understood by anyone who's interested in the subject.

[Carter F Smith]

Helpful for researching river pirates. Well researched, analyzed, and written. Only reviewed/needed one chapter.

[Skye]

Some parts are pretty repetitive, although the information presented was interesting. I would recommend this book to readers interested in the process of an archaeological excavation.

[Helen Susan]

The author has put a lot of work into this book. I knew little about pirates - except some of the Scottish ones - but this book fills many gaps.

[Annie]

An interesting read! It's an academic book, a collection of essays regarding the archaeology of piracy. Unfortunately, with no archaeological background, some of the methods, instruments, and measurements they used went over my head, but it was interesting to read about the local culture, a little bit of history regarding pirates, how certain pirates came to be, etc. It was also interesting to see what they found (or didn't find) on different wreckage sites. There were some good snippets of information if you can move past the technical archaeological jargon.

[FSU Alumni]

Russell K. Skowronek (M.A. '82, M.A. '83) and Charles Ewen (M.A. '83)