ELIZABETH S. GREENE, Brock University
JUSTIN LEIDWANGER, Stanford University

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Abstract
The long-term relationship between the sea, the coast, and the peoples connected across the Mediterranean defines the heritage of southeast Sicily. This presentation highlights three entangled case studies of maritime mobility in the local landscape, embodied by the boat: (1) the Marzamemi 2 "church wreck" as testimony to multivalent commercial and cultural networks in antiquity; (2) a historic fishing boat once used in the mattanza, the traditional community trapping and slaughter of bluefin tuna; and (3) an unnamed contemporary vessel, impounded as evidence of human trafficking between Libya and Italy. The juxtaposition of these vessels and their local reception alternatively as valorized heritage, vernacular tradition, or political debris, provide a framework to contextualize maritime archaeology within a broader dialog about long-term marine and coastal resource adaptation, seaborne interaction and migration, and cultural identities defined by the sea. Through archaeological and 3D recording, interviews and archival research, and collaborative exhibition and storytelling, our work aims not only to preserve these boats, but also to understand their voyages in the context of an inclusive and multilayered maritime heritage.