This volume represents a more Africanist approach to the framework of maritime landscapes and challenges of adapting international heritage policy such as the UNESCO convention. While the concept of a maritime landscape is very broad, a more focused thematic strategy draws together a number of case studies in South Africa, Namibia, Tanzania, and Nigeria with a common thread.

Specifically, the contributors address the sub-theme of sea ports and sea power as part of understanding the African maritime landscape. Sea ports and surrounds are dynamic centers of maritime culture supporting a rich diversity of cultural groups and economic activities. Strategic locations along the African coastline have associations with indigenous maritime communities and trade centers, colonial power struggles and skirmishes, establishment of naval bases and operations, and World War I and II engagements.

Dr. Lynn Harris (PhD University of South Carolina in 2002) is an Associate Professor in the Maritime Studies Program, History Department at East Carolina University. She is originally from Cape Town, South Africa and has serif"; color: #333333;mso-ansi-language: EN">a background in nautical archaeology, terrestrial archaeology, submerged cultural resource management and maritime history. Lynn received her BA and Honors degrees in Archaeology, Anthropology and African Studies at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. Areas of fieldwork experience and research interest include the American South, Africa, and the Caribbean. Her particular interest is the African diaspora and labor history. She teaches courses in underwater archaeology methods, maritime material culture, watercraft recording, and African and Caribbean maritime history with an inter-disciplinary Atlantic World perspective. Teaching assignments have included offering summer annual abroad study programs in South Africa or Namibia. Lynn has also directed and co-directed underwater archaeology field schools for graduate students in a variety of locations. She has published on vernacular watercraft, colonial period shipwrecks, public outreach, maritime heritage tourism, and international collaboration in underwater archaeology initiatives. Most recently, she authored and co-authored articles and reviews in the Journal of Maritime Archaeology, Nautical Research Journal, Historical Archaeology, Journal of Anthropological Research, International Journal of Heritage Studies, Nautilus: A Maritime Journal of Literature, History, and Culture and Northern Mariner. In 2013 she was presented with the Gerald E. Morris Prize by the Fellows of the G. W. Blunt White Library, Mystic Seaport for an article best representing Maritime scholarship.