The Bark Canada, a Gold Rush Legacy at Risk

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The bark Canada was a cargo ship that was grounded near Skagway, Alaska, in 1898. The site has been a local tourist destination for over a century but has suffered over time from repeated exposure at low tides and altering environmental conditions. The purpose of the current project was to plot the history of the ship’s degradation, identify specific areas of concern, and forecast future changes to the site. A review of literature concerning the original grounding of the vessel, as well as previously conducted documentation of its condition was used to create an estimated trajectory of integrity loss over time. Photos and videography were used to record its current conditions, and calipers and tape measures were used to measure dimensions of key features as benchmarks. To plot what future changes may occur at the site, it was observed at various low tide markers to monitor how much of the wreck was exposed at each. Additionally, a dramatic decrease in site integrity can potentially be linked to a recent trend in shifting underwater conditions. Therefore, an analysis of water quality and changes in salinity over time was used to predict how changing conditions may impact the integrity of the site.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37417.0