Roughneck Wrecks: National Register Eligibility Of Sunken Oil Rigs In The Gulf Of Mexico

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)", at the 2024 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

In recent decades, publications focused on the archaeology of industry have increased, resulting in National Register eligibility consideration for structures and facilities of different terrestrial industries such as mines, factories, and railroads. However, there is still a shortage of research on maritime and offshore industrial development. Since the first offshore oil well was drilled off the Louisiana coast in 1938, pipeline and rig construction has escalated. Current research and publications on marine cultural resources in the Gulf of Mexico focus predominantly on historic colonial wrecks, war casualties, and buried paleolandforms; the prevalence of oil industry debris and wreckage is often seen as a simple hazard. Yet, this industry has been crucial to the Gulf region for over 70 years. With plans to construct additional wind farms in the Gulf, it is incredibly important that oil rig structures, wrecks, and other offshore oil features are considered and researched as historical resources.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2024   •
• Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow