The Plantation Boat Accommodation: The Historical and Archaeological Investigation of a Maritime Icon of the American Southeast

Summary

As part of phase two of the 2011 East Carolina Maritime Studies Fall Field School, students, PI, and CO-PI split into two groups to record historic split-log dugout vessels located at the Charleston Museum and Middleton Plantation, South Carolina. As in most of colonial, and later American economies, transportation by water persisted as the most effiencent mode of moving goods and people to market. Canoes and periaugers were among the most common vessels utilized in the agricultural economy in the plantation system of the American Southeast from the 17th century through the early 19th century. Exeedingly rare in the archaeolgical record, Accomodation is an example of periaugers that were the pickup trucks of their day. This paper examines the important role these vessels played in the maritime economy of the southeast as well as the nature and construction of these once ubiquitous vessels. 

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Beyond and Between the Plantation; The Archaeology of "Everything But" in the American Southeast   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2018

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 537