SHIPWRECK ARCHAEOLOGY IN THE EASTERN UNITED ST A TES GEORGE F. BASS Department of Anthropology Texas A&M University College Station, Texas 77843 Abstract Underwater discoveries and salvage operations, coupled with recent archaeological research, reveal that watercraft of every period of American history are pre- served in the eastern United States. These pioneering efforts suggest how much may be learned of our na- tion's maritime and riverine heritage in future years as underwater archaeology expands as an accepted branch of historical archaeology. In this modern age of automobiles and jet aircraft, we may too quickly forget the obvious importance of ships and boats in the formation of our nation. A small number of underwater archaeologists, however, are beginning to locate, preserve, and learn from the re- mains of the vessels on which our history has been so dependent. We do not know what role watercraft may have played in the first movement of people into what is now the eastern United States, but it is clear that the origi- nal population at some time made use of dugout canoes, which today are being discovered and reported by divers, especially in the rivers of South Carolina. It is clear also that the first European contacts with o~r east coast were made in wooden hulls. If any of Lief Eric- son's followers or successors reached Maine from New- foundland, for example, they could not have done so without their famed longboats. It is more certain that Ponce de Leon made his discovery of Florida in 1513 b5' ship, and that it was by ship eleven years later that Verrazzano made landfall in present-day North Carolina before sailing all the way up the coast to Maine. Modern replicas at Jamestown of the Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery, the ships that brought the first permanent settlers to our coast, and the replica of the Mayflower, which not long ago duplicated the Pilgrims' transatlantic crossing, all indicate the public's appreci- ation of and interest in the vessels that made our colonies possible. When these colonies opted for independence, it was after the primarily naval engagement-the battle of Yorktown-that Cornwallis ultimately surrendered the British forces. Meanwhile, northern fur traders were pushing farther and farther west in birch-bark c~noes. Perhaps the importance of water~ays for this inland movement is not always appreciated, but a 35-foot canoe could carry four tons (including the weight of eight men). The same load carried over land would have required 35 men to pack 180 pounds each all day! The importance of ships and boats for eastern US history may be cataloged with examples from the French and Indian War or the War of 1812, or by stressing the importance of maritime commerce. The turning point for US history, however, was the use of . ships in the War Between the States. How could a naval force have been a deciding factor in a conflict fought almost entirely on land by armies of foot soldiers? In his book, The Civil War, Bruce Catton (1971) writes: "While the rival armies swayed back and forth over the landscape ... a profound intangible was slowly beginning to tilt the balance against the Confederacy. On the ocean, in the coastal sounds, and up and down the inland rivers the great force of sea power was making itself felt. By itself it could never decide the issue of the war; taken in conjunction with the work ·of the Federal armies, it would ultimately be decisive. In GEOSCIENCE AND MAN, VOLUME XXIII, APRIL 29, 198:>, PAGES 5-15, 8 FIGURES 5