The Lake Oneida Durham Boat: A Previously Unrecorded Vessel Type

Author(s): Ben Ford

Year: 2016

Summary

A shipwreck recently discovered in Lake Oneida, NY, and recorded by a team of professional and amateur archaeologists, appears to be the remains of an early 19th-century Durham boat. Durham boats plied the inland waters of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic during the 18th and 19th centuries offering an efficient means to transport bulk cargoes during the pre-canal era. While no archaeological example of a Durham boat has been previously identified, this shipwreck closely matches all available historical descriptions. The size, shape, and layout of the vessel all suggest that this is the first archaeologically reported example of a Durham boat. The details of this find offer important information about early Euro-American trade and commerce.

Cite this Record

The Lake Oneida Durham Boat: A Previously Unrecorded Vessel Type. Ben Ford. Presented at The 81st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Orlando, Florida. 2016 ( tDAR id: 404801)

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Spatial Coverage

min long: -80.815; min lat: 39.3 ; max long: -66.753; max lat: 47.398 ;