Presenter: Dr. Lynn Harris, Associate Professor of Maritime Archaeology in the Program in Maritime Studies, East Carolina University
An interdisciplinary team of students and faculty from East Carolina University is investigating a set of diverse maritime cultural sites on the southeastern seaboard that represent either a preservation risk or a potential resource to be showcased for heritage tourism. The project represents a partnership with private, state and federal stakeholders. Case studies include a historic lighthouse, boathouse, a deserted island town, fish houses, plantation, Civil War and other shipwrecks. Several of the sites are structurally unstable or located along eroding river banks or dynamic shores lines. Other sites might add a venue to existing tourism operations in the area and serve as centerpieces for revised or neglected historical narratives about port cities and surrounding areas. The fieldwork operations include exploring a variety of technologies to rapidly document and analyze site data including laser scanners, drones for aerial photography, remote sensing, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The 3-year project is funded by a NPS Preservation Training and Technology Grant and will continue through the summer of 2019 investigating further case studies in NC as part of a Maritime Studies Field school.
She Changed the World and Trowel Blazers: Women Making History
The year 2020 marks the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage. As part of a national campaign to commemorate this historic event, North Carolina’s Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (DNCR) is coordinating a campaign titled “She Changed the World: NC Women Breaking Barriers” through November 2020. Our goal is to share and celebrate the achievements of ALL North Carolina women and illuminate North Carolinian women's pivotal role in breaking down barriers in our state and the nation. In honor of this campaign, the OSA will be highlighting the accomplishments of North Carolina women past and present whose lives have been revealed through archaeology and those who have influenced the development and future of our field through the “Trowel Blazers: Women Making History” initiative.