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Perspectives on archaeology as an activist practice have increasingly honored indigenous knowledge of maritime environmental histories and practices, and there is a growing effort to address the preservation of West Africa's maritime and underwater cultural heritage in the face of anthropogenic climate change. This article examines the state of the field of maritime archaeology in two regions of West Africa, taking into account the environmental histories and changing landscapes that characterize our study. While the Atlantic Ocean, our field of action, is often perceived as a mere physical location, this article examines Senegalese and Liberian maritime environments as a social, spatial and temporal construct, both physical and cognitive. By comparing the two regions’ environmental histories through the approach of maritime cultural landscapes theory, we demonstrate how Indigenous West Africans shaped the Atlantic environment and created landscapes of resistance and memory. Key Words: Maritime archaeology; maritime cultural landscapes; Atlantic World