ANCIENT NAVIGATION AND SOURCES OF MARITIME LAW IN THE SECOND MILLENNIUM B.C. FROM ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATION TO REALITY LAW OF CONTRACTS AND PRACTICE COMMERCIAL AND MARITIME

Ancient navigation and the sources of maritime law in the 2(nd) millennium B. C. From the archaeological excavation to the legal reality of contracts and maritime commercial practice. The investigation of a wreck and the interpretation of the excavation data referring to ancient Mediterranean societies - characterized by increasing levels of cultural-commercial interactions through seafaring brokers - does not always allow archaeologists to deduce the legal relationships underpinning the legal norms that protects goods and people during the space-time span of navigation. The history of law and its related disciplines may be regarded as ancillary tools for archaeologists interpreting the data from Late Bronze-Early Iron Age sites in West Mediterranean. This paper shall focus on a careful reconsideration of a selection of 2(nd) millennium B.C. texts referring to maritime liability and contracts. The study will also underline legal trends, outlining the legal sequence composing the maritime partnership, from the construction of the vessel to its return to the quay or, in the event of shipwreck, the legal effects in terms of maritime liability.