Bridging the Land and the Sea: North Carolina's ESHPF Hurricane Projects and Other Environmental Impacts

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Bridging the Land and the Sea: Documenting and Assessing Climate Impacts on North Carolina’s Coastal Heritage", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

In 2018, North Carolina experienced the impacts of two major hurricanes - Hurricane Florence and Hurricane Michael. These storms altered the shape of coastal communities, including the cultural and archaeological resources that lie at or below sea level along the shorelines. As a result, the National Park Service released Emergency Supplemental Historic Preservation Funds for emergency-declared states and territories to assess, characterize, and mitigate damages to historic properties and archaeological sites. The NC Office of State Archaeology received funds to identify, document, and evaluate impacts on coastal archaeological sites and cemeteries and develop mitigation strategies for future site preservation. This paper provides an overview of the two projects, including their inception, significance, and placement within the larger context of changing coastal environments in coastal North Carolina.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Bridging the Land and the Sea: Documenting and Assessing Climate Impacts on North Carolina’s Coastal Heritage   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2025

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow