The Bay of Storms and Tavern of the Seas: Risk and the Maritime Cultural Landscape of Cape Town
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 29/07/2015

The Bay of Storms and Tavern of the Seas: Risk and the Maritime Cultural Landscape of the Harbour at Cape Town

Jeremy Borrelli

South Africa’s connection with the sea is most prevalent in its founding harbor, Cape Town. Until the opening of the Suez Canal, the passage by the Cape of Good Hope represented the most important oceanic route to the East. The passage, however, quickly became known for unpredictable storms that devastated shipping in locations such as Table Bay. This paper examines the way the nineteenth century British government managed the risks associated with using Table Bay as a harbor of refuge and how this is reflected in the archaeological record. The role that risk played in the development and use of Cape Town can be demonstrated by applying historical, economic and geo-spatial analyses within a maritime cultural landscape framework that correlates behavioral responses to both natural and cultural phenomena.