Urban Archaeology Along St. Augustine’s Shorelines: Past and Future Challenges

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Urban Archaeology: Down by the Water" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

For more than 450 years, St. Augustine’s shoreline spaces—where the water meets the land—provided past city residents with abundant opportunities, as well as presented several challenges. Using archaeological evidence gathered over the past 30 years by the City of St. Augustine Archaeology Program, this paper discusses the changing uses and transformations of the city’s bayfront. The archaeological record provides evidence of historical human activities such as modifying and extending shorelines, constructing seawalls and boat basins, and landfilling, which resulted in both positive and adverse consequences for the community and for the preservation of the city’s archaeology. Today, there are many threats facing the archaeology of historic waterfront communities. Following several recent hurricanes and confronting the realities of sea level rise, St. Augustine is working to keep its history above water and manage the city’s cultural heritage through a combined approach of adaptive preservation and documentation.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2020   •
• Urban Archaeology: Down by the Water

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 992