Wes Forsythe
Biographic Data
| ID | 359201 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Wes Forsythe |
| GIVEN NAMES | Wes |
| FAMILY NAME | Forsythe |
| SIGNATURE | FORSYTHE W |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Ulster |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3322-4196 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 29 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 79 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 29 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2000 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Coastal Saltworks and Atlantic Opportunities at Two Early Modern Sites on the North Coast of Ireland
The extraction of salt from seawater is one of the most direct ways of exploiting the marine environment. In the historic period, the production of salt formed an important component of the global economy. In temperate locations such as Ireland, archaeological evidence of extracting salt from seawater comprises a range of expressions and locations dictated by the energy resource required. This article presents the results of the first archaeologi…
An Outport for Gedi?—Archaeological Survey in Mida Creek, Kenya
Communities of the East African coast have had a long history of international interaction. Swahili maritime networks linked African port towns across the Indian Ocean seaboard, thus enabling merchandise to reach the hinterlands of the continent. One of these Swahili towns is the ancient city of Gedi, located on the central Kenyan coast near the medieval town of Malindi. Located inshore, 6 km from the main ocean to the southeast and 3 km from Mid…
Post-medieval Ship Graffiti on the North Coast of Ireland
The generation of boat and ship imagery in the form of graffiti has long precedents internationally. Such imagery carries with it a range of context-dependant associations and meanings. This paper presents a collection of previously undescribed graffiti from the north coast of Ireland which demonstrates features and behaviours which parallel those witnessed in a wide range of chronological situations elsewhere, while retaining context-specific re…
Networked spaces
The 34 articles published in this volume form the proceedings of the 9th Red Sea conference held at Lyon in July 2019, whose core topic was the “spatiality of networks in the Red Sea”, including the western Indian Ocean. In the networked space that the Erythra Thalassa never ceased to be, stable factors such as landscape, climate, and wind patterns have been constantly entangled with more dynamic elements, such as human activity. The contributors…
The Archaeology of Salt Production in Post-Medieval Ireland
As a key component of Ireland’s agricultural and marine economy, salt was a much prized and vital commodity for the trade of the nation. Yet, archaeological evidence for salt-working is surprisingly sparse particularly for early periods; leading to its neglect as a focus for thematic study. This paper presents the first systematic survey of the archaeological remains associated with salt production in Ireland, considering a range of expressions a…
Constructing Contemporary Nationhood in the Museums and Heritage Centres of Catalonia
Geographically Spain consists of a complex mosaic of cultural identities and regional aspirations for varying degrees of autonomy and independence. Following the end of violent conflict in the Basque country, Catalonia has emerged as the most vocal region pursuing independence from the central Spanish state. Within the Catalan separatist movement, cultural heritage sites and objects have been appropriated to play an intrinsic role in supporting p…
Persistence and risk
Salt was a common trading commodity in a post-medieval Europe of expanding horizons and populations. It was, however, expensive and laborious to produce in northern Europe and foreign supplies were vulnerable to disruption. Its importance was especially pronounced in countries such as Ireland, which failed to industrialize on the scale of Britain, and relied on its agricultural produce and exports. This paper explores the changing fortunes of sal…
A Maritime Archaeological Survey of Stonetown, Zanzibar
This note describes an integrated marine survey that was undertaken at the historic port and waterfront of Zanzibar in 2005. The project involved an extensive marine geophysical survey of the seabed and identified a number of shipwrecks associated with the operation and history of the port. Survey also focused on the spatial development of built heritage on the waterfront and examined the historical processes of change in this dynamic cultural sp…
Heritage and separatism in Barcelona
This paper explores the ways in which heritage sites at the crux of neighbourhood renewal and redevelopment initiatives in Barcelona have been manipulated to advance Catalan separatist agendas. We focus specifically on El Born Cultural Centre which was officially opened in September 2013 amid heightened calls for Catalan independence from Spain. A former market site, the centre's key attraction is its archaeology which has been re-imagined and pr…
The Suakin Dilemma
For much of the second millennium CE Suakin was one of the most important port cities in the upper Red Sea region. Effectively abandoned in the late 1920s, the historic core of the urban centre has deteriorated to such an extent that it now consists of little more than a pile of rubble. How, then, does a heritage professional approach the future management or development of a site like this? A range of options are presented here in an attempt to …
The Suakin Dilemma
For much of the second millennium CE Suakin was one of the most important port cities in the upper Red Sea region. Effectively abandoned in the late 1920s, the historic core of the urban centre has deteriorated to such an extent that it now consists of little more than a pile of rubble. How, then, does a heritage professional approach the future management or development of a site like this? A range of options are presented here in an attempt to …
Intertidal Fish Traps from Ireland
Zanzibar
The Measures and Materiality of Improvement in Ireland
Survey and excavation at Dunstaffnage Castle, Argyll
Recent investigations at Dunstaffnage, partially funded by Historic Scotland, have provided additional information regarding the castle's constructional history. Excavations have identified features associated with its initial construction in the 13th century and subsequent refurbishment episodes over the following centuries. Additionally, two medieval lime kilns have been located outside of the castle walls associated with these developments. In…
Improving landlords and planned settlements in eighteenth-century Ireland
Wes Forsythe, Improving landlords and planned settlements in eighteenth-century Ireland: William Burton Conyngham and the fishing station on Inis Mhic an Doirn, Co. Donegal, Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy: Archaeology, Culture, History, Literature, Vol. 112C (2012), pp. 301-332
Excavations at the medieval Red Sea port of Suakin, Sudan
The port of Suakin on the western shores of the Red Sea served as one of the most important trading centres of the region throughout the second millennium AD. In 2002 an integrated conservation research project was initiated at the site following decades of neglect. This paper reports on one section of this project, the excavations centred on the building known as the Beit el Basha. This section of the archaeological investigations has provided i…
Using Multibeam Echo-Sounder Data to Identify Shipwreck Sites
This paper describes Phase 1 of the project ‘Archaeological Applications of the Joint Irish Bathymetric Survey (JIBS) Data’, analysing bathymetric and backscatter data derived from multibeam surveys off the north coast of Ireland. In particular, the usability of the data for shipwreck detection, identification and site characterization is explored. In Phase 1, the data was screened for anomalous sea-bed features, which were subsequently described…
Mapping Submerged Landscapes Using Multibeam Bathymetric Data
This paper outlines work currently being undertaken to reconstruct submerged archaeological landscapes off the north coast of Ireland. This research uses the recently-completed Joint Irish Bathymetric Survey (JIBS), which has provided full-coverage high-resolution multibeam bathymetric data for the sea-bed off the north coast. This data has been examined for evidence of past sea-level change and been used to produce palaeo-geographic reconstructi…
Bantry Bay, County Cork, a Fortified Maritime Landscape
A Preliminary Analysis of Historic Shipwrecks in Northern Ireland
The French Shipwreck La Surveillante, Lost in Bantry Bay, Ireland, in 1797
On the Edge of Improvement
The Archaeology of the Kelp Industry in the Northern Islands of Ireland
The manufacture of kelp in Ireland from the 17th to early 20th centuries provided soda and later iodine for contemporary industries. It was an immensely important element of coastal economies, and notably for island communities, often impoverished and with limited agricultural means. This paper traces the origins and development of the industry in Ireland and examines the evidence for production in the islands off the northern coast. The results …
Process-based models for port evolution and wreck site formation at Mombasa, Kenya
Using Multibeam Echo-Sounder Data to Identify Shipwreck Sites
This paper describes Phase 1 of the project ‘Archaeological Applications of the Joint Irish Bathymetric Survey (JIBS) Data’, analysing bathymetric and backscatter data derived from multibeam surveys off the north coast of Ireland. In particular, the usability of the data for shipwreck detection, identification and site characterization is explored. In Phase 1, the data was screened for anomalous sea-bed features, which were subsequently described…
Zanzibar
Mapping Submerged Landscapes Using Multibeam Bathymetric Data
This paper outlines work currently being undertaken to reconstruct submerged archaeological landscapes off the north coast of Ireland. This research uses the recently-completed Joint Irish Bathymetric Survey (JIBS), which has provided full-coverage high-resolution multibeam bathymetric data for the sea-bed off the north coast. This data has been examined for evidence of past sea-level change and been used to produce palaeo-geographic reconstructi…
On the Edge of Improvement
Process-based models for port evolution and wreck site formation at Mombasa, Kenya
The Archaeology of the Kelp Industry in the Northern Islands of Ireland
The manufacture of kelp in Ireland from the 17th to early 20th centuries provided soda and later iodine for contemporary industries. It was an immensely important element of coastal economies, and notably for island communities, often impoverished and with limited agricultural means. This paper traces the origins and development of the industry in Ireland and examines the evidence for production in the islands off the northern coast. The results …
Comparison of the maritime Sites and Monuments Record with side‐scan sonar and diver surveys
Rathlin Island, off the north coast of Ireland, has a history of settlement and seafaring from the Late Mesolithic period to the present day. The maritime Sites and Monuments Record (SMR) for Rathlin indicates many wrecking incidents. In 1999, a reconnaissance side‐scan sonar survey confirmed the presence of 46 targets of possible archaeological potential around Rathlin Island. Thirteen of these anomalies were positively identified as shipwrecks.…
Persistence and risk
Salt was a common trading commodity in a post-medieval Europe of expanding horizons and populations. It was, however, expensive and laborious to produce in northern Europe and foreign supplies were vulnerable to disruption. Its importance was especially pronounced in countries such as Ireland, which failed to industrialize on the scale of Britain, and relied on its agricultural produce and exports. This paper explores the changing fortunes of sal…
The Measures and Materiality of Improvement in Ireland
Intertidal Fish Traps from Ireland
Excavations at the medieval Red Sea port of Suakin, Sudan
The port of Suakin on the western shores of the Red Sea served as one of the most important trading centres of the region throughout the second millennium AD. In 2002 an integrated conservation research project was initiated at the site following decades of neglect. This paper reports on one section of this project, the excavations centred on the building known as the Beit el Basha. This section of the archaeological investigations has provided i…
A Preliminary Analysis of Historic Shipwrecks in Northern Ireland
Ulster and the Indian Ocean? Recent maritime archaeological research on the East African coast
In January 2001, a team of researchers from the University of Ulster (Northern Ireland) conducted an innovative maritime archaeology project on the East African coast in partnership with the British Institute in Eastern Africa and the National Museums of Kenya. Its focus was Mombasa Island on the southern Kenyan coast, a historical settlement and port for nearly 2000 years (Berg 1968; Sassoon 1980; 1982). The East African seaboard, stretching fro…
Historic storms and shipwrecks in Ireland
A number of authors have dealt with the historical reconstruction of synoptic conditions from shipping records during isolated incidents, notably naval events. The paper presents a broad survey of Irish shipwrecks that correlate with historic storms in an attempt to quantify the extent of these incidents, and relate the weather observations of the distressed vessels to those at meteorological stations, as well as those put forward by meteorologis…
Constructing Contemporary Nationhood in the Museums and Heritage Centres of Catalonia
Geographically Spain consists of a complex mosaic of cultural identities and regional aspirations for varying degrees of autonomy and independence. Following the end of violent conflict in the Basque country, Catalonia has emerged as the most vocal region pursuing independence from the central Spanish state. Within the Catalan separatist movement, cultural heritage sites and objects have been appropriated to play an intrinsic role in supporting p…
A Maritime Archaeological Survey of Stonetown, Zanzibar
This note describes an integrated marine survey that was undertaken at the historic port and waterfront of Zanzibar in 2005. The project involved an extensive marine geophysical survey of the seabed and identified a number of shipwrecks associated with the operation and history of the port. Survey also focused on the spatial development of built heritage on the waterfront and examined the historical processes of change in this dynamic cultural sp…
Heritage and separatism in Barcelona
This paper explores the ways in which heritage sites at the crux of neighbourhood renewal and redevelopment initiatives in Barcelona have been manipulated to advance Catalan separatist agendas. We focus specifically on El Born Cultural Centre which was officially opened in September 2013 amid heightened calls for Catalan independence from Spain. A former market site, the centre's key attraction is its archaeology which has been re-imagined and pr…
The French Shipwreck La Surveillante, Lost in Bantry Bay, Ireland, in 1797
Historic storms and shipwrecks in Ireland
A number of authors have dealt with the historical reconstruction of synoptic conditions from shipping records during isolated incidents, notably naval events. The paper presents a broad survey of Irish shipwrecks that correlate with historic storms in an attempt to quantify the extent of these incidents, and relate the weather observations of the distressed vessels to those at meteorological stations, as well as those put forward by meteorologis…
Ulster and the Indian Ocean? Recent maritime archaeological research on the East African coast
In January 2001, a team of researchers from the University of Ulster (Northern Ireland) conducted an innovative maritime archaeology project on the East African coast in partnership with the British Institute in Eastern Africa and the National Museums of Kenya. Its focus was Mombasa Island on the southern Kenyan coast, a historical settlement and port for nearly 2000 years (Berg 1968; Sassoon 1980; 1982). The East African seaboard, stretching fro…
Integrated Geophysical Surveys of The French Frigate (1797), Bantry Bay, Co. Cork, Ireland
Comparison of the maritime Sites and Monuments Record with side‐scan sonar and diver surveys
Rathlin Island, off the north coast of Ireland, has a history of settlement and seafaring from the Late Mesolithic period to the present day. The maritime Sites and Monuments Record (SMR) for Rathlin indicates many wrecking incidents. In 1999, a reconnaissance side‐scan sonar survey confirmed the presence of 46 targets of possible archaeological potential around Rathlin Island. Thirteen of these anomalies were positively identified as shipwrecks.…
The Archaeology of the Kelp Industry in the Northern Islands of Ireland
The manufacture of kelp in Ireland from the 17th to early 20th centuries provided soda and later iodine for contemporary industries. It was an immensely important element of coastal economies, and notably for island communities, often impoverished and with limited agricultural means. This paper traces the origins and development of the industry in Ireland and examines the evidence for production in the islands off the northern coast. The results …
Process-based models for port evolution and wreck site formation at Mombasa, Kenya
Bantry Bay, County Cork, a Fortified Maritime Landscape
A Preliminary Analysis of Historic Shipwrecks in Northern Ireland
The French Shipwreck La Surveillante, Lost in Bantry Bay, Ireland, in 1797
On the Edge of Improvement
Using Multibeam Echo-Sounder Data to Identify Shipwreck Sites
This paper describes Phase 1 of the project ‘Archaeological Applications of the Joint Irish Bathymetric Survey (JIBS) Data’, analysing bathymetric and backscatter data derived from multibeam surveys off the north coast of Ireland. In particular, the usability of the data for shipwreck detection, identification and site characterization is explored. In Phase 1, the data was screened for anomalous sea-bed features, which were subsequently described…
Mapping Submerged Landscapes Using Multibeam Bathymetric Data
This paper outlines work currently being undertaken to reconstruct submerged archaeological landscapes off the north coast of Ireland. This research uses the recently-completed Joint Irish Bathymetric Survey (JIBS), which has provided full-coverage high-resolution multibeam bathymetric data for the sea-bed off the north coast. This data has been examined for evidence of past sea-level change and been used to produce palaeo-geographic reconstructi…
Survey and excavation at Dunstaffnage Castle, Argyll
Recent investigations at Dunstaffnage, partially funded by Historic Scotland, have provided additional information regarding the castle's constructional history. Excavations have identified features associated with its initial construction in the 13th century and subsequent refurbishment episodes over the following centuries. Additionally, two medieval lime kilns have been located outside of the castle walls associated with these developments. In…
Improving landlords and planned settlements in eighteenth-century Ireland
Wes Forsythe, Improving landlords and planned settlements in eighteenth-century Ireland: William Burton Conyngham and the fishing station on Inis Mhic an Doirn, Co. Donegal, Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy: Archaeology, Culture, History, Literature, Vol. 112C (2012), pp. 301-332
Excavations at the medieval Red Sea port of Suakin, Sudan
The port of Suakin on the western shores of the Red Sea served as one of the most important trading centres of the region throughout the second millennium AD. In 2002 an integrated conservation research project was initiated at the site following decades of neglect. This paper reports on one section of this project, the excavations centred on the building known as the Beit el Basha. This section of the archaeological investigations has provided i…
The Measures and Materiality of Improvement in Ireland
The Suakin Dilemma
For much of the second millennium CE Suakin was one of the most important port cities in the upper Red Sea region. Effectively abandoned in the late 1920s, the historic core of the urban centre has deteriorated to such an extent that it now consists of little more than a pile of rubble. How, then, does a heritage professional approach the future management or development of a site like this? A range of options are presented here in an attempt to …
The Suakin Dilemma
For much of the second millennium CE Suakin was one of the most important port cities in the upper Red Sea region. Effectively abandoned in the late 1920s, the historic core of the urban centre has deteriorated to such an extent that it now consists of little more than a pile of rubble. How, then, does a heritage professional approach the future management or development of a site like this? A range of options are presented here in an attempt to …
Intertidal Fish Traps from Ireland
Zanzibar
A Maritime Archaeological Survey of Stonetown, Zanzibar
This note describes an integrated marine survey that was undertaken at the historic port and waterfront of Zanzibar in 2005. The project involved an extensive marine geophysical survey of the seabed and identified a number of shipwrecks associated with the operation and history of the port. Survey also focused on the spatial development of built heritage on the waterfront and examined the historical processes of change in this dynamic cultural sp…
Heritage and separatism in Barcelona
This paper explores the ways in which heritage sites at the crux of neighbourhood renewal and redevelopment initiatives in Barcelona have been manipulated to advance Catalan separatist agendas. We focus specifically on El Born Cultural Centre which was officially opened in September 2013 amid heightened calls for Catalan independence from Spain. A former market site, the centre's key attraction is its archaeology which has been re-imagined and pr…
Persistence and risk
Salt was a common trading commodity in a post-medieval Europe of expanding horizons and populations. It was, however, expensive and laborious to produce in northern Europe and foreign supplies were vulnerable to disruption. Its importance was especially pronounced in countries such as Ireland, which failed to industrialize on the scale of Britain, and relied on its agricultural produce and exports. This paper explores the changing fortunes of sal…
Constructing Contemporary Nationhood in the Museums and Heritage Centres of Catalonia
Geographically Spain consists of a complex mosaic of cultural identities and regional aspirations for varying degrees of autonomy and independence. Following the end of violent conflict in the Basque country, Catalonia has emerged as the most vocal region pursuing independence from the central Spanish state. Within the Catalan separatist movement, cultural heritage sites and objects have been appropriated to play an intrinsic role in supporting p…
The Archaeology of Salt Production in Post-Medieval Ireland
As a key component of Ireland’s agricultural and marine economy, salt was a much prized and vital commodity for the trade of the nation. Yet, archaeological evidence for salt-working is surprisingly sparse particularly for early periods; leading to its neglect as a focus for thematic study. This paper presents the first systematic survey of the archaeological remains associated with salt production in Ireland, considering a range of expressions a…
Archaeology (24 works) · Geography (22 works) · History (14 works) · Maritime and Coastal Archaeology (14 works) · History (12 works) · Geology (11 works) · Oceanography (11 works) · Engineering (10 works) · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories (9 works) · Archaeological Research and Protection (8 works)