Maritime Asia people

The late Sten Sjostrand discovered and investigated the seven wrecks covered in the virtual exhibition on this site, working under contract with the Malaysian authorities while trying to develop local interest and expertise in maritime archaeology. Sten was an engineer who spent most of his working life in Southeast Asia designing and engineering marine and offshore structures. A keen sailor, he developed a deep interest in the history of Southeast Asian maritime trade, and an infectious enthusiasm for the history and aesthetics of Asian ceramics. Sten died in March 2020.

The late Dato' Dr Adi Taha was Director-General of the Department of Museums & Antiquities in Malaysia, which organised the exhibition Marine Archaeology in Malaysia, and commissioned the related book, Maritime Archaeology and Shipwreck Ceramics in Malaysia¹. He passed away in February 2012.

Roxanna Brown at the
Muzium Negara exhibition, Nov 2001. The late Dr Roxanna Brown was an expert on Southeast Asian trade ceramics, and examined the ceramics from all the wrecks investigated by Sten Sjostrand. They co-authored Maritime archaeology and shipwreck ceramics in Malaysia¹, and Turiang: a fourteenth century shipwreck in Southeast Asian waters². At the time of the "seven shipwrecks" exhibition, Roxanna was adjunct curator of Southeast Asian ceramics at Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena, California. She later became the first director of the Southeast Asian Ceramics Museum in Bangkok. She passed away in tragic circumstances in May 2008.

Claire Barnes has an amateur interest in Asian history and maritime archaeology, co-authored the MBRAS Turiang report³, and assisted with the exhibition Marine Archaeology in Malaysia at Muzium Negara. She developed this website, occasionally adds new references to the chronology page, and would be grateful for information about broken links and new finds.
E-mail: claire@maritimeasia.ws.