University of Exeter

Graduate Student, IAIS

University of Exeter

Thesis Title: The maritime traditions of the fishermen on the island of Socotra

About

Having completed my Masters in Maritime Archaeology at the University of Southampton in 2004 I have been working in the commercial field of archaeology as Senior Site Assistant for the Cambridge Archaeology Unit and Project Officer for the Hampshire and Wight Trust for Maritime Archaeology doing desk based assessments and fieldwork. I am an Associate of the Institute of Archaeologists and an Associate of the Higher Education Academy. I also hold a commercial HSE SCUBA diving license.

I have also been involved in numerous archaeological projects both in the UK and abroad and in Iran I lead the underwater survey in search of the Tammishe wall in the Caspian Sea. I have also organised and run a Shipwreck Archaeology course for Broadreach Academic Treks in Bermuda. Currently, I am the Secretary for the Friends of Socotra.

I have co-authored and published several articles related to my fieldwork in Iran and Socotra where I studied the traditional vessels of Socotra, and have co-authored a report with the University of Ghent for the Socotra Conservation Development Program and Environmental Protection Authority on Socotra related to conservation issues relating to the protection of archaeological sites on Socotra that are under threat http://www.ecology.ugent.be/limno/index.html under Publications 2004 'Conservation Issues on Socotra Island' by K. van Damme, P.de Geest and J. Jansen van Rensburg.

Research Interests

Exploring the diverse maritime interactions and the socio-economic processes that Socotra has been involved in

Traditional vessels and seafaring in the Arab world

Exploring maritime cultures through ethnography and technology

Traditional fishing communities and practices of the past and present

Understanding coastal landscapes and the seascapes through multi-disciplinary research into ethnography, history and archaeology

Publications

Jansen van Rensburg, J. 2010. The Hawārī of Socotra, Yemen. International Journal of Nautical Archaeology. 39.1: 99–109


Agius, D., Cooper J.P., Jansen van Rensburg, J., & Zazzaro, C., 2010, ‘The dhow’s last redoubt? Vestiges of wooden boatbuilding traditions in Yemen’. Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 40: 71-84.


Omrani Rekavandi, H., Sauer, E., Wilkinson, T., Abbasi, G.A., Priestman, S., Safari Tamak, E., Ainslie, R., Mahmoudi, M., Galiatsatos, N., Roustai, K., Jansen Van Rensburg, J., Ershadi, M., MacDonald, E., Fattahi, M., Oatley, C., Shabani, B., Ratcliffe, J. Usher-Wilson, L.S., forthcoming 2008 "Sasanian Walls and Hinterland Fortresses, Abandoned Ancient Irrigated Landscapes: the 2007 Season on the Great Wall of Gorgan and the Wall of Tammishe", Iran 46 (2008) 151-78.


Omrani Rekavandi, H., Sauer, E., Wilkinson, T., Safari Tamak, E., Ainslie, R., Mahmoudi, M., Griffiths, S., Ershadi, M., Jansen Van Rensburg, J., Fattahi, M., Ratcliffe, J., Nokandeh, J., Nazifi, A., Thomas, R., Gale, R. and Hoffmann, B., 2007: 'An Imperial Frontier of the Sasanian Empire: further fieldwork at the Great Wall of Gorgan.' Iran 45 (2007) 95-136.


Jansen van Rensburg, J. 2006. The Hawari of Socotra, in Cheung, C., DeVantier, L. (eds.) and Van Damme, K. (science ed.), Socotra: a Natural History of the Islands and their People. (Hong Kong: Odyssey Books & Guides) 316-319.


Jansen van Rensburg, J. 2005. An Ethno-technical study of the hawari on Soqotra. Tayf – The Friends of Soqotra Newsletter 2: 17


Jansen van Rensburg, J. 2005. Soqotra Hawari Expedition - an Ethno-Technical study of the hawari on Soqotra. Bulletin of the Society of Arabian Studies 10: 33.


Jansen van Rensburg, J. 2002. A Saltern Survey. Hampshire and Wight Trust for Maritime Archaeology Annual Report


Current World Archaeology “Secrets of the Red Snake – The great wall of Iran revealed”. No.27. 12 – 22. http://www.shc.ed.ac.uk/staff/academic/esauer/pubs/iranian_walls.pdf



I have also successfully completed several commercial Desk Based Assessments on a variety of maritime and terrestrial sites in the United Kingdom. 

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