FORMATION PROCESSES OF SHIP SITES IN THE BLACKWATER RIVER, SANTA ROSA COUNTY, FLORIDA (original) (raw)

Site Formation Processes of the Wreck of the U.S. Steamer Convoy in Pensacola Bay, Florida

This paper examines the site formation processes of the U. S. steamer Convoy that sank in the Pensacola Pass in March 1866 after an overturned coal-oil lamp in the ship’s engine room caused a fire that consumed the ship. Not only will the paper discuss the vessel’s Civil War history but also the deliberate and opportunistic salvage operations conducted during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The paper compares a recent survey of the wreck site, completed by archaeologists from the University of West Florida during the 2012 field season, with a U. S. Navy survey from 1987. A geographic information systems analysis using historical charts reveals the retreat of the channel scarp beneath the wreck during the nearly one-hundred and fifty years of the site’s existence. The result of this research is a comprehensive examination of the cultural and natural forces that created the contemporary wreck site.

What is past is prologue: excavations at the Econfina Channel site, Apalachee Bay, Florida, U.S.A

Southeastern Archaeology, 2018

Offshore submerged sites can retain valuable data concerning many questions of interest to archaeology, including what form coastal occupations may have taken during periods before the establishment of modern coastlines and late Holocene climate and ecological conditions. However, submerged offshore sites experience post-depositional forces entirely unlike those in terrestrial contexts, including erosion/deflation of sediments, and degradation of artifacts and/or features caused by the marine environment. Methodological and theoretical approaches to assessing submerged marine sites, versus terrestrial ones, must be adjusted accordingly to extract valuable data and interpretations from them. This study demonstrates the application of these different approaches at the Econfina Channel site (8TA139) in Apalachee Bay, Florida, USA. The site appears to contain significant evidence for coastally adapted occupation during the final part of the Middle Archaic period (∼8600–5000 cal BP), but we needed to address marine site formation processes before we could assess human activities at the site. Sedimentological and archaeological traces of human activities can be teased out using geoarchaeological methods, which differentiate between nonhuman postdepositional processes and the cultural material remains left behind by those who used the site before it was abandoned and subsequently submerged.

The Flintlock Site (8JA1763): An Unusual Underwater Deposit in the Apalachicola River, Florida

2009

In the fall of 2001, staff of the Florida Bureau of Archaeological Research were led by river divers to an underwater site in the Apalachicola River containing a large concentration of prehistoric and historic artifacts lying on the riverbed. Subsequent inspection of the submerged river bank and scoured limestone river channel revealed a myriad of objects, which included iron fasteners, metal tools and implements, broken glass bottles, stone projectile points, scattered bricks and stone blocks, and other materials. Discovery of two large fragments of a wooden watercraft, a bayonet, a copper arrowhead, and flintlock gun barrels initially prompted researchers to hypothesize that the site might represent the remains of a U.S. Army boat that was attacked in 1817 by Seminole Indians while en route upriver. The episode, which caused the deaths of more than 30 soldiers and several women who were aboard the boat, led to the First Seminole War and the U.S. Army invasion of Florida. To investigate this hypothesis, a systematic survey of the riverbed was undertaken in the spring of 2002 to record underwater features and recover additional diagnostic artifacts. These activities employed side-scan sonar as well as diver visual investigations. This paper presents a case study of the value and broader significance of aggregate data where interpretation was underpinned by artefactual, historical and environmental analysis.

A methodology for studying shipwreck sites formation processes

19th European Association of Archaeologists Annual Meeting – 2013 – Pilsen, Czech Republic, 2013

Comprehending the role that formation processes play in the constitution of an archaeological site is fundamental for a more precise interpretation of the data collected in it. Concerning shipwreck sites, such processes possess certain peculiarities which must be taken into account. However, that subject is not sufficiently developed in the literature, lacking a comprehensive treatment of all kinds of processes. Hence, the present work aims at proposing a methodology for studying archaeological formation processes that influence shipwreck sites. To this end, a bibliographical review is conducted focusing on shipwreck sites. The purpose of such review is twofold: (1) studying how this problem was approached at previous works (2) identifying issues in those approaches that could be improved. After that, we present the methodology hereby proposed, which aims at studying the influence of formation processes in an archaeological site of interest in an embracing way, considering natural and cultural factors that act at the pre-depositional, depositional and post-depositional periods.

Newton. Using Geomorphic Data to model prehistoric sites Blackwater River, FL

Geomorphic investigations were conducted during 2015-2017 at two locations within the Blackwater River-Bay Complex. The project aimed to gain an understanding of Paleoindian archaeological site occurrences in the study area, while placing them within the context of environmental change. The study employed a myriad of marine geophysical surveying techniques, diver investigations, and vibracore extractions from a tripod-mounted vessel. Vibracores were sampled for organic content before being analyzed using a Malvern Mastersizer 3000 particle sizer. Stratigraphic units were coupled with radiocarbon assays, which showed a strong correlation to data collected on prehistoric hurricane landfalls in the northern Gulf. Moreover, the radiocarbon assays relate to pronounced periods of prehistoric occupations along the Blackwater River-Bay complex during the Late Woodland and Mississippian periods. This is perhaps owing to a later development of the estuary system.

Broward County Shipwreck and Marine Archaeological Inventory: Phase 1

2007

Study of the marine archaeological resources of metropolitan Fort Lauderdale along its Atlantic coastal barrier islands, Port Everglades, New River, New River Sound, Stranahan River, Intracoastal Waterway and related area waters. Grant assistance provided by the Florida Division of Historic Preservation, Historic Preservation Small Matching Grant No. S0746.

A New Maritime Archaeological Landscape Formation Model

Society for Historical Archaeology, 2013

Archaeology should strive to explore and seek to improve our understanding of human behavior. Underwater archaeology, especially shipwreck archaeology, tends to be particularistic focusing on the human activities associated with a ship or shipwreck itself. Human behavior and its resultant material remains exist on a physical and ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This research was made possible by the funding and support of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve. I would like to thank everyone at Thunder Bay who supported me throughout this endeavor. I would also like to thank the National Park Service (NPS) and Dr. Robert Ballard and the Institute for Exploration who also funded me while a graduate student. While many people worked directly with me on my research, I want to give particular thanks to Dr. Rod Mather who supervised my project and, along with Dr. Ballard, served as my co-major advisor. I would like to thank the faculty and staff at the Graduate School of Oceanography (GSO) at the University of Rhode Island (URI) for their academic guidance. Special thanks go to Dr. John King (GSO), Dr. Scott Nixon (GSO), Dr. Vergil Noble (NPS) and Dr. Leo Carroll (URI) who served on my dissertation committee. Lastly, I want to give especial thanks to my husband Daniel for whom, as long as he has known me, I have been a graduate student. Let us move on to new adventures. v