37. An Early Nineteenth-Century Shipwreck in Hampton Roads
Archaeological Data Recovery of Site 44HT0125, Associated with the I-64 Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel Expansion Project, City of Hampton, Virginia
D. W. Lewes1, T. F. Higgins1, G. P. Watts, Jr.2, C. Bailey3, and C. Griggs4
2022, 186 pp., 142 figs., 3 tables, 1 appdx.
This multidisciplinary report describes the remains of an early nineteenth-century vessel and its cargo of granitic gneiss (Site 44HT0125) that were dredged from the vicinity of the North Island of the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel in November 2020. Analysis of the vessel remains identified a distinctive element known as a forefoot knee. Other distinctive construction features include the pattern of fastening the floor timbers to the keel and/or keelson, limited use of trunnels, and employment of iron fasteners. The combination of findings from documentary research, dendrochronological sampling, geological analysis, and analysis of vessel remains indicate that the Site 44HT0125 vessel was likely a schooner transporting a cargo of gneiss building stone from a quarry in Port Deposit, Maryland for the construction of Fort Monroe ca. 1818–1834.
Download the part 1 and part 2 of the report (pdf)
1 – W&M Center for Archaeological Research – Website – Facebook
2 – Tidewater Atlantic Research, Inc.
3 – W&M Department of Geology – Read a blog post about the study by Professor Chuck Bailey
