Submerged Brunswick Town: Assessing Underwater Cultural Resources at the 18th Century North Carolina Port Town

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

The remains of La Fortuna, a Spanish privateer that sank in 1748 off the 18th century port at Brunswick Town, North Carolina, represents just one of the potential submerged cultural resources associated with the famous archaeological site. Due to Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson Historic Site’s proximity along the Cape Fear River to the modern port at Wilmington, NC, it is subject to heavy maritime traffic, dredging activity, and possible climate-related shoreline erosion. In the summer of 2021, a collaborative research team from East Carolina University and the NC Underwater Archaeology Branch performed a high-resolution sonar survey in the waters off Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson in advance of the installation of shoreline wave attenuators to mitigate further erosion. This paper will provide a background to known intertidal and underwater sites, prior acoustic and geophysical surveys in the area, and discuss the results of the current survey as a baseline for monitoring and research.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SHA 2022 General Sessions   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2022

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology