Historians map Britain's historic trading routes with AI

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 20 Oct, 10:08 · Archive

Historians at the University of Southampton have created an interactive map documenting goods traded along Britain's shipping routes from the late 16th to mid-18th centuries. The project used artificial intelligence to extract data from handwritten port records, or 'port books', creating a database of shipping activity during the rise of the British Empire. Unusual goods identified include children's toys, sheep guts, and clock cases.

Professor Craig Lambert, lead researcher, said: 'This was a massive task, completed on a scale not seen before. Without AI extracting and organising the data, this would have taken years. It still needed manual checking, but it sped up the process enormously.'

The records revealed Europe accounted for the majority of Britain's overseas trade, despite the country's expanding colonial network. Of more than 3,000 identified ports, France topped the list with 157 maritime sites linked to British trade, followed by the Netherlands with 68. Coal was the most commonly recorded commodity, appearing in more than 101,000 cargo entries, followed by malt, wheat, iron, wool, and wine.

The map highlighted forgotten ports and trading communities, including the lost town of Dunwich, the vanished port of Ravenspurn, and the creek ports of Kent and Essex.

How it is being reported

• New map reveals goods traded on Britain’s historic shipping routesChildren’s toys, sheep guts, and clock cases were just some of the unusual goods once traded along Britain’s historic shipping routesRomsey Advertiser · 20 Oct, 09:34
• New map reveals goods traded on Britain’s historic shipping routesChildren’s toys, sheep guts, and clock cases were just some of the unusual goods once traded along Britain’s historic shipping routesSouthern Daily Echo · 20 Oct, 03:30

In this story: University of Southampton · Craig Lambert · John McAleer · Britain · France · Netherlands · Dunwich · Ravenspurn

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