Editing Maritime archaeology (section)

==Integrating land and sea==
Before the industrial era, travel by water was often easier than over land. As a result, marine channels, navigable rivers and sea crossings formed the trade routes of historic and ancient civilisations. For example, the [[#Mediterranean area|Mediterranean Sea]] was known to the Romans as the inner sea because the [[Roman Empire]] spread around its coasts. The historic record as well as the remains of harbours, ships and cargoes, testify to the volume of trade that crossed it.  Later, nations with a strong maritime culture such as the [[United Kingdom]], the [[Netherlands]], [[Denmark]],  [[Portugal]] and [[Spain]] were able to establish colonies on other continents. Wars were fought at sea over the control of important resources. The material cultural remains that are discovered by maritime archaeologists along former trade routes can be combined with historical documents and material cultural remains found on land to understand the economic, social and political environment of the past. Of late maritime archaeologists have been examining the submerged  cultural remains  of   [[China]],  [[India]],  [[Korea]] and other Asian nations.