about the other sea story

I have been fascinated by all kinds of boats ever since I was placed in my rocking boat crib my dad crafted. Twenty years later, I am the first to go away to college in my entire seafaring family. What lured me to study anthropology originally was the vast history of maritime activity and the fact that scientists know more about the surface of the moon than the bottom of the ocean. Researching more into my Anthropology of the Art topic of symbols, style shifts and assimilating ideas of the evolving boat, I have discovered my greater passion in the study. Specifically along the Atlantic coast in Colonial Latin America, where aborigines meet European influences and where pirates flourish, art is mustered in a plethora of new forms. From various figureheads, sails, wood construction and the goods these boats traveled with reflect the background and stories from which they were born.

The research process I went through may have been the hardest part in writing about solely one topic. I was constantly distracted by the most fascinating information about different boats and maritime institutes to a point where I refused myself from going online. My biggest difficulty I encountered was time management in this sense because I spent more time digressing from the core of my topic in the Age of Discovery. My original abstract was altered slightly when I started questioning why the differences in boats were prevalent during this time. Based on their intended function and the perspective of the vessel, can one add a certain amount of value. This one word made me focus more on the idea of different cultures reaping the best of favored raw materials for the sake of better shipbuilding. The importance of geography came into play as I analyzed the word “value” and the sense of power that advances with it.

If I were to follow-up on this project, as I plan to do countlessly, I would focus on a single sea story and their reflection upon other cultures as well as their own. Stories of famous pirates or making sense of the uncertain such as the feared Kraken or the re-occurring symbol of mermaids or the enchanted land under the sea known as Atlantis, would have drawn more of a detailed account. When comparing the physical elements of maritime boats, there are so many factors to consider when evaluating a person’s craft. Whether or not their function supports their intention, resembles where their from and is made special reflects the value and strength of its ability to withstand the water’s will. By honing in on a more specific perspective, i could say alot more about their time and place in the larger sea.