Final Q1 Submerged Artifact Recovery
As winter begins to wind down and the coastal environments return to scenes of spring, we are preparing for our final submerged artifact recovery of Q1 next week. Phase I acoustic sonar survey investigations will continue along the Cooper River with a Phase II submerged artifact recovery picking up in our previous site. This site is being re-examined for its recent construction development and dredging operations along the inland waterways. Phase II is expected to recover further evidence of disturbed prehistoric archaeological context, as well as historic artifacts ranging from the late Antebellum to the American Civil War.
This project is a perfect opportunity for students and recent graduates breaking into the CRM field to get hands on experience with geospatial data collection using GIS in the field, acoustic dual beam sonar survey, GLONASS GPS plotting, submerged artifact recording, and develop their knowledge of maritime fieldwork techniques. The range of archaeological context for this project incorporates a wide variety of skillsets for submerged artifact identification and handling, exposing students to prehistoric and historic era cultural material that is diagnostic of the Southeast coast. If you are interested in participating on this project please contact us!
Once we wrap up archiving and consolidation of those artifacts, you may have heard our office will be relocating in Spring to Greenville, NC, as our Project Maritime Archaeologist, Ethan Mellon, will be attending the Maritime Studies Graduate Program at East Carolina University. We will be providing an overview of changes to the Charlotte office in a follow up email and newsletter in the coming weeks, which will go over the new local primary dive shop, training locations, and laboratory changes - among other things. We are anticipating a larger laboratory space with more equipment to be stationed for in-house analysis and chemical consolidation, for those assisting in the maritime conservation lab.
With a lot on the horizon for 2025, we are looking forward to bringing you more details on our relocation and more project opportunities. For the time being, we have had a few new staff members join our team this year and we want to extend a warm welcome! We are still actively recruiting for volunteer divers, Staff Archaeologists, and Wilderness Medicine staff, so please do not hesitate to reach out to us at sicparvismagnaarchaeology@gmail.com.
We hope to see you out there!
