Category: Uncategorized

this is a test of the new image insert routine.

St. Augustine trip, May 2009

Dr. Sam Turner is president of IMH and is also Director of Archaeology at the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum in Florida

The museum’s Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program (“LAMP”) is giving a three-week field school in underwater archaeology during June, in collaboration with Florida State University, Plymouth University, Syracuse University, and Flinders University of Western Australia.

To support that school, IMH members Dawn Cheshaek (also president of the Maritime Chapter of the Archaeological Society of Delaware), Isabel Mack, Dan Lynberg, Kirk Pierce, and Dave Howe took Roper from the Potomac River to Florida.
The museum has several boats, but Roper is larger and can work a dozen divers comfortably.

We left Tall Timbers, Maryland, on Saturday, 23 May.  On the way south we towed Genie Girl, a classic 28-foot Chris-Craft, from Smith Point, Virginia, for IMH supporter Craig Thatcher.  We delivered her at New River, North Carolina, on Monday, 25 May.

Topsail Inlet (the next inlet below New River) was closed due to shoaling, and the weather forecast said southerly winds and 6- to 9-foot seas in the ocean, so we stayed in the IntraCoastal Waterway all the way to Florida.  Staying in “the ditch” meant a slower trip, but the compensations included meeting Nina and Pinta in Bogue Sound, just south of Morehead City.

We hoped to dive the U-85 (sunk in 1942 by Roper’s namesake) on the way, but the schedule and weather did not allow that.

We arrived at St. Augustine on Thursday, 28 May, and were met by Sam, Chuck Meide and Brendan Burke of the museum, and Tim Bevan, a “plankowner” who crewed Roper from Texas to Maryland in 1999 with Don Shomette, Mike Nowotny, and Dave.

Roper went to work on Friday and was fitted out with a sunshade over her aft deck and a huge museum pennant.  The field school site is a steamship wreck, perhaps with another wreck underneath or alongside it.  Mr. and Mrs. Bill Hutcherson of St. Augustine will provide dockage.

Roper will remain in Florida throughout June and most of July, then come back home to resume work in the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays

I will try very hard to figure out how to post photos from the trip.

 

My first experience in maritime archaeology was an IMH project in 2002 assisting with a survey of Cape Porpoise, Maine. Since then I have become involved in maritime projects with federal, state, local, and non-profit agencies as well as cultural resource management firms. One of the more unexpected things I have learned in the past few years is the incredible amount of information maritime communities know about their own history and archaeology. Often each individual is aware of a small part of the overall picture, but interviews of a large number of individuals can yield a substantial amount of information about an area. An ongoing interview project conducted with IMH is uncovering a wealth of knowledge about the maritime heritage of the Maine coast, some of which has been part of the focus of a NOAA Ocean Exploration project, the Blue Hill Bay Submerged Prehistoric Landscape Survey.

Areas of Expertise

• Maritime archaeology, including survey, excavation, and artifact recovery of shipwrecks and submerged prehistoric cultural material
• Distribution patterns of shipwrecks and abandoned vessels
• Teaching in American history and world civilizations
• Excavation, recovery, and conservation of micro-artifacts

Current Positions

• Senior Archaeologist, Florida Division of Archaeological Resources, Bureau of Archaeological Resources, Tallahassee, FL

Current Projects

• Downeast Fishermen Interview Survey, IMH, 2006-2009
• Blue Hill Bay Submerged Prehistoric Landscape Survey, NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration, 2007-2009

Education

• M.A., Maritime Studies, East Carolina University, 2006, “Conflict and Commerce: Archaeological Site Distribution as Cultural Change on the Roanoke River, NC”
• B.A., History, Earlham College, 1994

IMH Projects

• Downeast Fishermen Interview Survey, Bass Harbor, Maine, 2006-2009
• Inter-tidal Archaeological Resources Survey in Cape Porpoise, Maine, 2002

Selected Publications

• PRICE, F.H., and N. RICHARDS (2009) Conflict and Commerce, Historical Archaeology (In Press).
• PRICE, F.H. (2008) Mysteries from the Sediment: The Micro-Archaeology of an 18th century Shipwreck. 65th Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Archaeological Conference, Charlotte, NC
• PRICE, F.H. and A. SPIESS (2007) A New Submerged Prehistoric Site and other Fishermen’s Finds Near Mount Desert Island, Maine Archaeological Bulletin, pp. 21-35.
• RODGERS, B.A., N. RICHARDS, F.H. PRICE, B. CLAYTON, D. PIETRUSZKA, H. WHITE, and S. WILLIAMS (2006) The Castle Island Ships’ Graveyard: The History and Archaeology of Eleven Wrecked and Abandoned Watercraft. Research Report No. 15. East Carolina University, Greenville, NC
• CONLIN, D., K. HENAKI, and F.H. PRICE (2005) Gateway National Recreation Area: Pre-Construction Clearance, S.R.C. Technical Report No. 20. National Park Service, Submerged Resources Center, Santa Fe, NM
• PRICE, F.H. and A. SPIESS (2008) Fresh from the Sea: The Recovery of Prehistoric Artifacts by Maine Fishermen. 73rd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
• PRICE, F.H. (2008) Submerged Downeast, Preliminary Results of the Downeast Maritime Interview Survey. Society for Historical Archaeology 41st Annual Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology, Albuquerque, NM.

I served as director and president of IMH from 1995 to 2005. That experience helped me to hone my skills as an archaeologist, and by trial and error how to effectively manage research projects. Although the focus of my work has always been the study and conservation of New England’s maritime archaeological resources, my 10 years at IMH also took me to places far afield such as the Caribbean islands and North Africa. The experience of starting and operating a non-profit organization was challenging as well as daunting. It meant wearing many hats and learning new skills that included fundraising, managing people and projects, working with local, state and foreign governments, organizing public outreach programs such as youth archaeology camps, lecturing, and consulting on heritage and museum development projects. Through these experiences, I have come to recognize the importance of cultural heritage to community well-being, and the urgent need to develop policies that protect and conserve maritime heritage resources for the public. My career and professional interests lie in improving the quality of life for coastal communities through the conservation of maritime cultural heritage.

Areas of Expertise

• Maritime archaeology including inter-tidal, urban waterfront, shipwreck, and submerged prehistoric archaeological survey and excavation
• Cultural heritage and resource management, policy development, planning and re-development of historic waterfront properties
• Marine historical ecology

Current Position

• Research Scientist, Ocean Process Analysis Laboratory, University of New Hampshire

Current Projects

• Atlas of Historical Fishing Grounds, Census of Marine Life (CoML), History of Marine Animal Populations (HMAP), 2008-2010
• Blue Hill Bay Submerged Prehistoric Landscape Survey, NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration, 2007-2009
• Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary Marine Historical Ecology, National Marine Sanctuary Program, 2006-2009

Education

• Ph.D., Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, University of New Hampshire, 2008, “Sustainable Development of Maritime Cultural Heritage in the Gulf of Maine”
• M. A. Anthropology, Texas A&M University, 1998, “Annabella: A North American Coasting Vessel”
• B. A. Psychology & Archaeological Studies, Boston University, 1992

Professional Activities

• Advisor, Fund for the Preservation of Maine’s Maritime Heritage

IMH Projects

• Diamond Island Archaeology Survey, Portland, Maine, 2003
• Rainsford Island Archaeological Survey, Boston, Massachusetts, 2002
• Inter-tidal Archaeological Resources Survey in Cape Porpoise, Maine, 2002
• Inter-tidal Archaeological Resources Survey in Kennebunk, Maine, 2001
• Inter-tidal Archaeological Resources Survey in Wells, Maine, 2000
• Wood Island Light Station Cultural Resources Survey, Biddeford, Maine, 2000
• Inter-tidal Archaeological Survey of Cape Neddick River, Maine, 1998
• Terrestrial Archaeological Survey of the Lower Cape Neddick River, Maine, 1997
• St. Vincent and the Grenadines Shipwreck Project, 1997-2000
• Annabella Shipwreck Excavation, Cape Neddick, Maine, 1995

Selected Publications

• CLAESSON, S. H. (2009) An ecosystem-based framework for governance and management of maritime cultural heritage in USA, Marine Policy. 33, 698-706.
• CLAESSON, S. H. (2007) Mapping Historic Fishing Grounds in the Gulf of Maine and Northwest Atlantic Ocean, Oceans Past: Management Insights from the History of Marine Animal Populations, Ed. by D. J. Starkey, P. Holm, and M. Barnard, Earthscan, London p. 91-108.
• CLAESSON, S. H., ROBERTSON, R. A. & HALL-ARBER, M. (2005) Fishing Heritage Festivals, Tourism, and Community Development in the Gulf of Maine, Proceedings of the 2005 Northeastern Recreational Research Symposium, April 10-12, 2005, Bolton Landing, NY, Report No. GTR-NE-341, pp. 420-428.
• CLAESSON, S. H. (1997) A Preliminary Report on the Excavation of a Nineteenth-Century Derelict Vessel in Cape Neddick, Maine: The Southern New Jersey Coasting Schooner Annabella. Northeast Historical Archaeology 26: 39–62.