The American Neptune, Volume 56, Number 4

132 Pages·1996·11.7 MB·English

The American
INeptune
MARITIME HISTORY & ARTS
Volume 56, Number 4 Fall 1996
ISSN 0003-0155
Vol. 56, No. 4, 1996
Editor-in-Chief
Barry M. Gough
Wilfrid Laurier University, Ontario
Book Review Editor Maritime Arts and News Editor Managing Editor
Briton C. Busch Daniel Finamore Geraldine M. Ayers
Colgate University Peabody Essex Museum Peabody Essex Museum
Copy and Proofreaders Editorial Services Assistant Publisher Publisher
Eva Ritter-Walker Charles Anezis Dori Phillips Donald S. Marshall
Merrily Glosband Peabody Essex Museum Peabody Essex Museum Peabody Essex Museum
Peabody Essex Museum
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Mystic Seaport Museum Spring Hill, Florida University of Minnesota
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Independence Seaport Museum University of Victoria, BC Bath, Maine
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The American
EPTUNE
A QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF MARITIME HISTORY AND ARTS
Volume 56, No. 4
Fall, 1996
li COPYRIGHT 1997 BY THE PEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM
SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS
( ,
AH
PUBLISHED BY THE PEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM
SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS
COVER ILLUSTRATION
Fresco, ca. 1628 BC
A reconstructed image of one of the seven large ships depicted on the
ship fresco mural found at Akrotiri on Thera from the debris left by
the volcanic destruction of c. 1628 BC. With the square sail furled,
twenty-one paddlers on each side propel the vessel through calm
inshore waters. Seen aft (left to right) are a seated figure (the
captain?), a helmsman with steering oar, and another standing figure
(navigator?). Decorations adorn bow, stem, gunwale, and cabin.
Secured along the foot of the mast are long bronze-tipped lances
probably used by crewmen for defense. The seated passengers appear
to be dignitaries. After Spyridon Marinatos, Thera VI archaeological
report, 1974.
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
ALLEN PRESS, INC., LAWRENCE, KANSAS
Contents
Editor-in-chief’s Note 314
Articles
The Maritime Character of Minoan Civilization
by Clark G. Reynolds 315
Frank Thomas Bullen, 1857-1915: Whaling and Nonfiction Maritime Writing
by Alston Kennerley 353
An Early Antarctic Landing: Captain Cooper’s Log of the Levant, 1853
by Robert Keith Headland 371
Where Did the Mutiny on the Bounty Occur?
by Raymond James Maloney 383
News 389
Readers’ Forum 391
Book Reviews
Ian FRIEL, The Good Ship, Shipbuilding and Technology in Keith Yates, GrafSpee 's Raiders: Challenge to the
England 1200-1520 Royal Navy, 1914-1915
Frederick M. Hocker 393 David French 406
RICHARD Harding, The Evolution of the Sailing Navy, Malcolm R. Murfett, ED., The First Sea Lords: From
1509-1815 Fisher to Mountbatten
Richard Eddy 394 Keith Neilson 407
ROBERT S. Weddle, Changing Tides: Twilight and Dawn James F. Calvert, Silent Running: My Years on a World
in the Spanish Sea, 1763-1803 War II Attack Submarine
Peter C. Mancall 395 Carl Boyd 408
David Hancock, Citizens of the World: London Merchants JOHN BUNKER, Heroes in Dungarees: The Story of the
and the Integration of the British Atlantic Comunity, American Merchant Marine in World War II
1735-1785 Charles Dana Gibson 409
Walter Minchinton 396
EDWARD L. Beach, Scapegoats: a Defense of Kimmel and
ROBERT L. Herbert, Monet on the Normandy Coast: Short at Pearl Harbor
Tourism and Painting, 1867-1886 Robert W. Love, Jr. 411
John R. Stilgoe 397
GAYLORD T. M. Kelshall, The U-Boat War in the Caribbean
James Pritchard, Anatomy of a Naval Disaster: The 1746 David Syrett 413
French Naval Expedition to North America
Shorter Notices
Jonathan R. Dull 398
JOHN Dunmore, translator, ED., The Journal of Jean- Diane Frost, ED., Ethnic Labour and British Imperial Trade:
Francois de Galaup de la Perouse, 1785-1877 A History of Ethnic Seafarers in the United Kingdom 413
Harry Kelsey 400 GENE Eric SALECKER, Disaster on the Mississippi: The
DANA A. Story, The Shipbuilders of Essex: A Chronicle of Sultana Explosion, April 27, 1865 414
Yankee Endeavor LOUIS R. Harlan, All at Sea: Coming of Age in World
Nathan R. Lipfert 401 War II 414
SHELDON S. Cohen, Yankee Sailors in British Gaols: Paul Stillwell, Battleship Missouri: An Illustrated
Prisoners of War at Forton and Mill, 1773-1783 History 414
Paul A. Gilje 402
JOHN A. Butler, Strike Able-Peter: The Stranding and
HAROLD D. Langley, A History of Medicine in the Early Salvage of the USS Missouri 414
U.S. Navy
Virginia Steele Wood and Mary R. Bullard, eds..
Frederick Leiner 404
Journal of a Visit to the Georgia Islands of St. Catherines,
ROBERT J. SCHNELLER, Jr., A Quest for Glory: A Biography Green, Ossaban, Sapelo, St. Simons, Jekyll, and
of Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren Cumberland, with Comments on the Florida Islands
Spencer C. Tucker 404 of Amelia, Talbot, and St. George, in 1753 415
CHESTER G. Hearn, The Capture of New Orleans, 1862 DAVID Stevens, ED., The Royal Australian Navy in World
Royce Shingleton 405 War 11 415
Briton C. Busch
Volume 56 binding materials, including index i
Editor-in-Chief’s Note
W
hen did modern history begin? What encourage fresh research, thorough documenta¬
are the origins of Western Civiliza¬ tion, and excellent literary style. We have a large
tion? We continue to seek answers to backlog of good material. However, we encour¬
these questions. The Minoans, a pre-Greek and age potential contributors to submit their work,
pre-literary society, flourished on the island of though we do request that they have it in a high
Crete and throughout the southern Aegean basin state of literary merit. The computer, or more
seven to twelve centuries before the being of correctly the word processing generation, has
Greece’s classical era of greatness. changed the way we work. Increasingly we
The maritime character of Minoan society, prefer manuscripts that are already “on diskette,”
so little known until now, is the subject of our and our preferred language is Word Perfect.
lead article written by the distinguished student The American Neptune depends on its sub¬
of maritime affairs and history Clark G. Rey¬ scribers. We encourage you to continue your
nolds. Carefully reconstructing the history and subscription and to speak to others who do not
chronology of the Minoans, their ships and know about our journal. In past months some
seaport, their trade routes and navigation, and technical delays in our production have put us
their religion and culture, Professor Reynolds behind schedule, though at year end, and volume
has given a vibrant portrait of a people and end, we are now back to our original intentions.
economy little known and appreciated. He resur¬ We thank our loyal subscribers for their pa¬
rects from the past, using wide ranging sources, tience.
the dynamics of an early seaborne society, the From time to time special supplements are
prototype for other Mediterranean peoples. published for subscribers to The American Nep¬
Included with this contribution is a bibliography tune. Accompanying Volume 56 is a special
which will aid scholars and other readers of the supplement, Donald Starr’s account of the prog¬
future to place “The Maritime Character of ress of the schooner Pilgrim. The watercolor of
Minoan Civilization” into the larger literature. this vessel at Papeete in 1933 graces the cover of
The American Neptune is pleased to publish our second number of this volume. Nowadays
articles on the subject of Ancient History, and vessels still lie stern-in to the strand of this port,
although its focus has always been on develop¬ though the harbor is crowded with yachts of
ments of the modern era we are of opinion that contemporary design and most recent materials
other eras have much to reveal and teach about — hardly a wooden spar can be seen: all is
the evolution of marine affairs and therefore metal. Thus, however, it was since Minoan
deserve a place in our pages. times, even before.
This issue completes the present volume, our
fifty-sixth. We continue to seek high quality
Barry Gough
manuscripts on topics of unique importance. We
Editor-in-Chief
The American Neptune 314
The Maritime Character of
Minoan Civilization
Clark G. Reynolds
M
inoan civilization flourished on the broad geographical range of Minoan trade and
island of Crete and throughout the contacts throughout the eastern Mediterranean
southern Aegean basin from about littoral. Like historians, archaeologists have not
2000 to 1500 BC. A Bronze Age (c. 3000- 1200 always agreed on the meanings and interpreta¬
BC ) culture, it was distinctive as the first high tions of the evidence. As ever more artifacts are
European civilization and the first one West or unearthed and new analytical techniques applied,
East to have been essentially maritime in charac¬ fresh questions arise. Even the Minoan script —
ter. The Minoans were pre-Greek and pre-liter- which Evans dubbed Linear A — has yet to be
ary, their very existence virtually forgotten by deciphered. Still in all, the Minoans seem to
the beginning of Classical Greece (c. 800 BC). have achieved their greatness largely by virtue of
They were not rediscovered until AD 1900 by seafaring, a fact that needs to be understood by
archaeologist Arthur Evans. He named them for historians of the sea and, indeed, of Western and
the legendary King Minos of Crete, who, how¬ all civilizations.
ever, has since been identified with the Myce- The essentially maritime character of the
naeans, the earliest Greeks who eventually Minoans becomes evident when the history of
succeeded the Minoans. In fact, the Bronze Age their civilization is reconstructed and contrasted
Cretans were probably called Keftiu, their island with other civilizations and cultures contempo¬
Kaptaru or Caphtor; inscriptions in Eighteenth rary to them. This proposition is addressed
Dynasty Egyptian tombs portrayed emissaries herein by examining the Minoans in four sepa¬
“of Keftiu-land (and) the islands which are rate but closely interrelated categories: 1. His¬
within the great green [sea],” the Mediterranean.1 tory and Chronology; 2. Ships and Seaports; 3.
Building on Evans’ pioneering work, archae¬ Trade Routes and Navigation; 4. Religion and
ologists have painstakingly revealed both the Culture.
cultural sophistication of Minoan society and the
E
History and Chronology
specially confounding for historians is divisions according to pottery styles, a system
the basic — and constantly revised — which has become less than satisfactory over the
chronological sequence of Minoan civili¬ years but so commonly used as to defy replace¬
zation, inasmuch as archaeologists are sharply ment with another system. The chronology of
divided over the timing of distinctive periods of this essay follows Evans’ period designations:
Minoan history. Evans established historical Early, Middle, and Late Minoan (EM, MM, LM)
315 Volume 56, Number 4
I, II, and III, and the most recent chronological small scale mixed farming (cereal agriculture
dating of them by archaeologist Sturt W. Man¬ and pastoral) supplemented by fishing.
ning. All dates are BC.2 A chronological table is No evidence exists of Crete’s insularity
appended. having been subjected to, or even threatened
with, a concerted seaborne invasion by any other
Early Minoan I, c. 3100/3000 to c. 2700/ polity (political unit, state) during this period,
2650.3 The high Bronze Age culture of Crete nor over the ensuing millennium or so until the
developed after four millennia of Neolithic very end of Minoan greatness. Occasional raids
(Stone Age) existence during which several by other Aegean islanders probably explain the
migrations had occurred by sea, probably from few defensive walls erected during EMI, II, and
western Anatolia (modern Turkey) and the III and even later. The absence of a major orga¬
Cyclades Islands (west central Aegean). As nized foreign power upon the sea insured general
Cretans now began to leave their caves, they Minoan security. The only early third millen¬
established their first proto urban settlements at nium civilization bordering the Mediterranean
locations more or less close to the coast (Map was Old Kingdom Egypt, whose waterborne
A). Knossos, situated 15 km (9 mi) inland of the activity was confined to the Nile River and
north central shore, became a town and Phaistos coastal trade to the Levant/Syro-Palestinian
near the south coast a village, so categorized by region (modern Syria, Lebanon, and Israel) (Map
relative physical layouts and population sizes. B). The few Egyptian and Near Eastern artifacts
Among a few small hamlets were Palaikastro on found in EMI Crete (trade goods and gifts)
the east coast and the offshore island of Pseira in probably arrived on Levantine ships. The basi¬
the northeast. Their economies were based on cally peaceful and stable longevity of the Mino-
The American Neptune 316
317
ans made possible by their geographical insular¬ and handcrafted stone figurines, in return for
ity helps explain their evolving distinctive some pottery but mostly organic goods, olive oil,
character and overall self confidence.4 wine, honey, and spices, the only raw commodi¬
ties which mineral-poor Crete had to offer.7 The
Early Minoan II, c. 2650 to c. 2200/2150.5 one apparent Minoan overseas colonial venture
The choice areas of arable land on Crete filled up of this period seems to have been the establish¬
as olive and grape cultivation expanded Cretan ment of a settlement, initially only seasonal, on
agriculture. This led to surplus labor concen¬ Kythera, the island closest to the peoples of
trated at population centers and probably under mainland Greece.
an emergent elite of managers. A simultaneous In the East, Syro-Palestinian coastal king¬
“international spirit” of peoples from the Near doms such as Byblos and Ugarit exploited new
East to the Aegean6 seems to have acted as a Mesopotamian and Egyptian trade routes and
stimulus to Minoan growth with Crete’s location already established connections with the Mino¬
as a new crossroad of maritime traffic. The ans. Some scholars argue that this Levantine
islanders of the southern Aegean Cyclades and influence was the catalyst which propelled the
coastal peoples of western Anatolia increased Minoans into becoming a high civilization as
existing contacts with one another for trade that opposed to other island peoples too small ever to
extended as far south as Crete, but with the mature into major polities.8 For example, newly
Minoans now initiating their own over-water erected two-story stone columned and walled
activities. Such commerce was probably only Minoan buildings showed Syrian and Egyptian
sporadic and between governing elites: Minoan influences, as did techniques of crafting pottery,
imports of raw materials (obsidian and copper) fine stones, gold, and silver, but usually in a
Volume 56, Number 4
318
fundamentally unique Minoan style. urbanized culture, the basic definition of civili¬
The importation of Eastern goods probably zation. Perhaps the refugees and a fresh wave of
caused the founding of new hamlets with local overseas immigrants largely accounted for the
workshops for crafting the imported metals and population boom of this century. This growth,
situated near both ends of the narrow 12 km (7 the need for concerted defensive measures, and
mi) long north-south Isthmus of Hierapetra: on a growing diversity of craft skills, including
the north coast Malia, Gournia, Vasiliki, and the improved ships, led to a complex economy under
islet Mochlos, on the south coast smaller Myrtos ever more centralized management. The urban
(Fournou Korifi) and Pyrgos. Other settlements elite in turn exploited Crete’s unique geograph¬
arose at Kommos on the southern shore near ical position to promote Minoan exports of
Phaistos and at Kydonia (Chania) on the far agricultural and now also high quality manufac¬
northwest coast. Most of these newer settlements tured products: textiles, pottery, and stone vases.
were, however, destroyed and abandoned by A revitalized Near Eastern trading network
causes unknown (earthquake and/or seaborne embraced the Minoans, increasing their interna¬
raiders?) toward the end of the period, probably tional contacts to an unprecedented scale.
not coincidentally with simultaneous stresses What made Minoan society decidedly urban
and invasions that racked Egypt, Mesopotamia, was the transformation of Knossos into the first
the Levant, Anatolia, and several Cyclades palatial complex during the course of the twenti¬
islands. eth century, along with accelerated expansion of
Phaistos and Malia toward that end. The Minoan
Early Minoan III, c. 2200/2150 to c. palace comprised two- or three-story buildings
2050/2000.9 A time of stagnancy, this period flanked by large open courts, outlying buildings,
seems to have begun at different times and at and an adjacent town; roads gave it ready access
different places throughout Crete and ended to the seacoast and the interior. Because of the
similarly as final recovery occurred at each distinctive religious character of each palace’s
settlement. The cause seems to have been contin¬ activities, the form of government was in all
uous seaborne raids by foreign plunderers which likelihood theocratic, a combination of political,
did not end until about the time stability returned religious, and economic administration. As an
to the Near East. EMIII may be characterized as urban complex, the Minoan palace has been
an intermediate period, the term applied to characterized by archaeologist L. Vance Watrous
Egypt’s contemporaneous first such time of as “the residence of a powerful authority, as¬
troubles (c.2180-C.2040) between its Old King¬ sisted by a literate bureaucracy, which controls
dom and Middle Kingdom. Minoan cultural a system of redistribution.”"
continuity was preserved mainly at urbanizing The notion of a monarchy as in pharaonic
Knossos and Phaistos, both perhaps sufficiently Egypt or the Mesopotamian city-state kingdoms
large, well managed, and better defended to seems not to have fit Minoan government. No
resist or deter raiders and to absorb refugees. great personages were depicted in Minoan art,
Knossos especially grew in wealth and prestige nor large tombs erected to individuals, male or
as plough technology and the use of draft ani¬ female. Luxury grave goods and later frescoes
mals (oxen, donkeys) created surpluses in cereals attest, however, to men and women important in
and the desire for systematic trade abroad. As whatever hierarchy existed. Women, indeed,
Malia, Gournia, and Vasiliki were reoccupied, seem to have enjoyed privileged status in reli¬
their inhabitants appear to have erected fortifica¬ gion and at the palaces, though not as queens.
tions as a safety measure. With the restoration of Minoan population centers apparently swelled
each center to cultural and economic vitality, the according to economic convenience and advan¬
Minoans entered their next period (MMIA). tages. The palaces and towns directed agricul¬
tural production in nearby countrysides and
Middle Minoan IA, c. 2050/2000 to c. villages and maintained workshops for manufac¬
1925/1900.10 Minoan civilization took off as an tured goods (tools, pottery, luxury items, reli-
The American Neptune