History on the Edge: Loss of the Ocean State's Past

Summary

Hurricane Sandy impacted Rhode Island’s south coast on October 29, 2012. Storm surge and wind-driven waves eroded considerable sections of the shore damaging historical and archaeological sites located at the contact between the land and sea. Emergency response and preservation planning archaeological surveys conducted in response to Hurricane Sandy represent the first large scale, systematic attempts to identify and evaluate vulnerable archaeological sites situated along the Rhode Island coast. These surveys also underscored the long-term threats that rising seas and future tropical storms pose to ancient, as well as, more recent cultural deposits. Continued erosion of the Rhode Island shore imposes current and future financial and logistical challenges to preservationists wishing to preserve the Ocean States’ unique maritime history.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 19884