Before the 200-ton Queen Anne’s Revenge became Blackbeard the pirate’s flagship, the previously named La Concorde was a French slave-trading vessel.

Archaeological conservators and researchers with the North Carolina Office of State Archaeology will explain the history of the ship during 90-minute tours on Saturday, Nov. 2, of the Queen Anne’s Revenge Conservation Lab in Greenville.

The lab works to conserve, document, and investigate the artifacts recovered from the shipwreck identified as the pirate Blackbeard’s flagship, Queen Anne’s Revenge.

The tours being offered at no charge are to begin every 30 minutes between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. and will feature artifacts including gold grains, grenades and cannons recovered from the ship, which was wrecked near Beaufort Inlet over 300 years ago.

The La Concorde belonged to a wealthy French merchant, trafficking human cargo across the Atlantic in the 1710s. Late in the fall of 1717, off the island of Martinique, Blackbeard and his fellow pirates captured the La Concorde and renamed it the Queen Anne’s Revenge. In 1718, the ship ran aground near Beaufort inlet. The shipwreck was discovered in 1996, according to the QAR Lab website.

Organizers ask that participants arrive 10 minutes before tour time. Space is limited and registration is required. Visit the QAR Lab website to reserve a spot. The lab is at 1157 VOA Site C road in Greenville or call 744-6721.

The Queen Anne’s Revenge Shipwreck Project and Queen Anne’s Revenge Conservation Lab, and the Office of State Archaeology are within the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. 

ROANOKE ISLAND — While immigration is a hot election-year topic, it’s perhaps notable that speculation continues unabated about the fate of America’s first English immigrants who vanished into the mists of history 437 years ago, with yet another twist in the saga of the real people who became known as the “Lost Colony.”

Could at least a group from the colony that briefly settled on the shores of today’s Roanoke Island, on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, have moved, not only 50 miles south or west, as many believe, but simply to the other side of the sound?

According to records, when the colony’s governor John White returned three years after he left for supplies in 1587, the only evidence of the colony’s whereabouts was the word “Croatoan” – once the home of the Croatan Indians on Hatteras Island – carved on a fort palisade, and the letters “CRO” carved in an oak tree. That has been widely interpreted as a signal from the colonists that they moved to Croatoan – that is, Hatteras.

Alternately, there were signs that could have meant they went 50 miles into the mainland, as White said was discussed with the colonists before he departed.

But in a recent research report, “Croatan: The Untold Story,” veteran archaeologist Eric Klingelhofer, vice president of research with the nonprofit First Colony Foundation, says that a review of historic maps indicates that the Croatan tribe who had befriended the Roanoke colonists did not actually live on Hatteras Island; they lived on land across from Roanoke Island at what is now mainland Dare County. So if at least some colonists went to live with the Croatan Indians, they may have had to merely cross the sound.

“Cartographic study therefore suggests that a broad territory was attributed in the historical period to the remnant Croatoans, and that the likely location for their core habitation and Dasemunkepeuc itself lay northwest of Roanoke in the vicinity of modern Mashoes,” Klingelhofer asserts in the report, published on the foundation’s website.

Dasemunkepeuc, an Algonquian village, was located at present-day Mann’s Harbor, near Mashoes. The Croatan and Roanoke were branches of Algonquian Indians.

What his research shows is that the Croatan had left Buxton on Hatteras Island at some point after the arrival of the English in the mid-1580s, and relocated to the mainland where they could grow crops, Klingelhofer, a retired professor of history at Mercer University, told Coastal Review in a recent interview.

“It looks like, from these maps, which were most of the official governmental maps, that the Mashoes area and south of that Manns Harbor area was the land of the Croatoans,” he said, using an alternate name for the Croatan. “The Roanokes, who probably had more problems with disease because they had greater contacts, they may have been there for a while. But then they moved south, maybe because of better resources, or there were more friendly natives that they had relations with, or something like that. And then they don’t know what happened to them beyond the fact that they were no longer in this area.”

Long catnip for charlatans, fabulists and conspiracy dabblers, the disappearance of Sir Walter Raleigh’s colony on Roanoke Island – England’s first attempted settlement in the New World – has been dubbed the “nation’s oldest mystery” for a reason: Only bits of evidence have been found that point to what may have happened to most of the 117 men, women and children who had sailed to Roanoke Island more than four centuries ago.

Perhaps because of its ephemeral intrigue, the Lost Colony, a precursor to Jamestown in 1607, the first permanent English settlement, has been the focus of numerous archaeological surveys and digs – both professional and amateur – for decades. It has sparked a beloved long-running local summer theater production. It has spawned magical fables of a White Doe and of large stones carved with cryptic writing, both linked to Virginia Dare, a colonist’s baby born in 1587. And it has inspired many books, some more authoritative than others, including Klingelhofer’s, “Excavating The Lost Colony Mystery, The Map, the Search the Discovery,” published in 2023 in association with the foundation, which features a collection he edited of research by historians, archaeologists and others.

The foundation has worked closely with pre-colonial experts who have conducted research at Williamsburg and Jamestown in Virginia, as well as at Fort Raleigh National Historic Site on Roanoke Island, which has yielded artifacts but no hints of the colonists’ settlement. In a recent archaeological exploration, the foundation had found evidence of first contact between the English explorers and Native Americans at Fort Raleigh, and also has unearthed artifacts that indicate some Lost Colonists may have lived for a time at riverfront sites in Bertie County, dubbed Site X and Site Y.

Despite the growing volume of information that has been collected over the years, and numerous Indian and English artifacts that have been unearthed, to date no pre-colonial smoking gun has been found that fills in the big blanks about the elusive Lost Colony.

“We don’t know where they started out from,” Charles Ewen, distinguished professor of anthropology at East Carolina University’s Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences, told Coastal Review. “We don’t know where they went. We have sort of the general vicinity and it’s become this wonderful mystery that people are trying to figure out.”

Ewen, more cohort than rival of Klingelhofer, has also recently written a book, with co-author E. Thomson Shields Jr.: “Becoming the Lost Colony, The History, Lore and Popular Culture of the Roanoke Mystery,” published in 2024.

Whatever detritus the colonists left behind may have been lost to erosion along the shores of the Croatan Sound or to decay in the swamps. But there are also unanswered questions about 16^th century people’s choice of living conditions, and Ewen agreed that the mainland could have provided better shelter and more food.

“In fact, I think most archeologists think that the Outer Banks were just seasonally occupied,” Ewen said. “So when they said they were prepared to move 50 miles into the main, I think the Outer Banks during the winter would not have been a terribly hospitable place.”

Deciphering the clues of the Lost Colony, like a 400-year-old board game, is why the mystery of their fate continues to fascinate.

Klingelhofer, a founding member of the First Colony Foundation, a volunteer group of professional archaeologists established in 2003, has explained that their overall mission is finding evidence to fill in the gaps about the 1584-1587 Roanoke Voyages, which ultimately led to early American English colonization. Still, it’s always the Lost Colony story from the 1587 Roanoke Voyage that most ignites the public imagination and spurs continued investigations and research, such as Klingelhofer’s work.

Both Klingelhofer and the foundation, and Ewen and East Carolina University, have a close association with the late archaeologist David Phelps, professor emeritus of anthropology at ECU who died in 2009 at age 79.

An expert on prehistoric and Algonquian archaeology, Phelps was renowned for his work studying Tuscarora Indian sites at Neoheroka in Greene County and Jordan’s Landing in Bertie County. When Hurricane Emily in 1993 exposed vast amounts of pottery sherds and shell midden in Buxton, it was Phelps’ numerous excavations that determined the site had been the Croatan capital that stretched a half-mile from Cape Creek to Buxton village.

Phelps had dated what he called “the Hatteras site” from 1650 to 1720.

Manteo, who had befriended the colonists, had lived in Croatan, and his mother was the tribe’s leader. For that reason, some historians hypothesized that the colonists may have fled there, although most say the Croatan had inadequate food and space to accommodate more than a small number.

An archaeologist who had worked alongside Phelps as a young man, Clay Swindell, is now working with the foundation, Klingelhofer said.

Even though centuries separate our contemporary population from historic colonial explorers, human nature was likely as prone to boasting and deception then as it is now.

Hence, Klingelhofer said it’s worth noting that everyone is presuming what White, the governor who reported the “CRO” letters at the Lost Colony’s fort, actually knew and didn’t know.

“John White wasn’t always trustworthy,” he said. “He assumes a lot of things. He claims a lot of things that are not necessarily fully the truth. A lot of it is his interpretation of particular people and their motives behind the people that he has gotten angry with.”

In other words, White’s account may not be the only version of Lost Colony history to consider.

“But any good historian knows better than to trust a person who’s even an eyewitness to things,” Klingelhofer said. “You need corroboration. And sadly, there isn’t any except for in these maps.”

As Ewen sees the Lost Colony, all of the foundation’s hypotheses could be legitimate, but as he and Klingelhofer agree, it’s all pieces of a puzzle yet to be solved.

“I think it’s very difficult to say with any degree of certainty, until we find some more physical evidence, that we have an idea of what happened,” he said. “We need to find Christian burials from the 16th century, and I think that will really start putting us in the vicinity.”

English burials, he added, would be east-west, with the head at the west end. The clothing items would date to the 16th century, and skeletal analysis would indicate they were European. But archaeologists and historians are by no means ready to throw in the towel in pursuit of the Lost Colony.

“Honestly, I think it’s going to be an accidental discovery,” Ewen said. “Somebody will come across something while they’re developing … (and) stumble upon some of this stuff. And the archeologists will get involved, and then it will be, ‘Oh, OK!’”

A now-former Onslow County deputy has been arrested in connection with an altercation between residents and a group gathered for a Native American prayer ceremony in Cedar Point, but a group leader says the actions by law enforcement and media in the weeks after perpetuated a racist and biased narrative.

Last week, Carteret County Sheriff’s Office arrested James Gilbert De La O Jr. “for communicating threats, assault on a female and false police report” and was released on a written promise to appear.

“This case is still active and detectives are still in the process of reviewing new evidence and interviewing individuals that were present during the incident. Further charges may be obtained once all the evidence is reviewed and all interviews have taken place,” the Carteret sheriff’s office said in a statement.

De La O was employed at the time of the incident as a deputy for the Onslow County Sheriff’s Office. He has resigned from the position and his last day was July 12, according to Onslow County.

The incident took place June 23 where the Bridge View development had been on pause for several months because the site contains numerous human remains, which were disturbed during construction. Likely from the before European contact, the Office of State Archaeology believes it to be “a highly significant archaeological site.”

After the ceremonial prayer, American Indian women, children and elders “faced intimidation and hate-induced brutalization during an unarmed, peaceful prayer to honor exposed and desecrated American Indian burial grounds at the Bridgeview housing development in Cedar Point,” 7 Directions of Service said Wednesday in a statement. The Indigenous-led environmental justice organization is based on Occaneechi-Saponi homelands in rural North Carolina.

Shortly after the incident, Carteret County released a statement that said the disturbance was between residents and a group from the Chapel Hill area and New York.

“Deputies arrived on scene and discovered a physical altercation had occurred and one of the residents from the Bridgeview community was stabbed in the arm with a small pocket knife, along with sustaining other minor injuries,” the June 25 release continues. “The person responsible for the stabbing fled the scene as deputies were arriving.”

Native American leaders associated with the ceremony have said from the start that the attendees were unarmed, having agreed on the tradition to forbid weapons during the prayer.

Dr. Crystal Cavalier-Keck, cofounder of 7 Directions of Service, said earlier this month during one of a few press conferences that she is “outraged and speaking directly about the racism we are experiencing during and in the wake of the violence we experienced.”

Cavalier-Keck explained on July 3 that there was no protest during the prayer ceremony.

“An attack was made against American Indian women, children, and the elderly without provocation,” she said, adding that the dialogue “from the attackers constitutes ethnic intimidation and a hate crime,” and while those gathered were unarmed — no pocket knives were present and no stabbings occurred — the “attackers were armed and dangerous.”

She said that law enforcement had more than enough evidence to make an arrest, and is “delaying the process after issuing warrants for the victims without any delay, and announced this immediately in a press statement. Those warrants have now been recalled, but no press statement has been issued, which has contributed to a racist and biased narrative being perpetuated across media outlets.”

Members of 7 Directions of Service, 17 Rivers American Indian Movement Chapter of North Carolina and the Tuscarora Nation of North Carolina, which has claimed the cultural artifacts and ancestral remains discovered at the Cedar Point site, coordinated and attended the June 23 prayer ceremony.

“We celebrate the win of our innocence being declared two weeks too late after the media has already painted a biased and racist imagery of our culture with some imaginary stabbing and knife-carrier and ultimately protecting nonindigenous dignity and culture,” Cavalier-Keck said during a press conference Wednesday about the charges against the former deputy.

“We do not accept this display of justice as it belittles our value and experience. We take it as a current reflection of the status quo and move from this point on for further healing, accountability and a collective understanding that this horror should have never happened in the first place, and it should never happen again,” Cavalier-Keck continued. “I ask you not to forget the real history nor turn a blind eye to all of that continues to happen. We must seek to eliminate the frequent violence that plagues nations, tribal nations, and bridge our divides, but we must also be warriors for the truth, because without truth, there can be no healing.”

Tuscarora Nation of North Carolina Public Relations Officer Rahnàwakęw Donnie McDowell told Coastal Review on Thursday that the Tuscarora Nation of North Carolina “continues to support the shift in the media tone and overall charges being placed in the right direction.”

The site on the mainland by the Emerald Isle Bridge began getting attention in recent months because it was associated with House Bill 385. The provision that would have changed the permitting process for environmentally and archaeologically significant lands was removed from the bill on the Senate floor June 26 and was sent back to the House, where it waits in committee.

Both 7 Directions of Service and the Tuscarora Nation of North Carolina spoke out against the provision, which could come back up in the General Assembly during the long session expected to begin in January.

Related: Legislature to revisit significant archaeological resources

“From our review of not only UNDRIP (United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples) and our treaties, but also with NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act) and several state laws protecting Native American remains, artifacts and sites the Tuscarora Nation reserves the right to be consulted, informed, and provided the opportunity to repatriate the remains of our ancestors and their cultural belongings,” McDowell explained.

“We are reviewing NAGPRA and these state laws in order to better understand how our rights as Tuscaroras are continuing to be violated by the lack of consultation with the TNNC (Tuscarora Nation of North Carolina),” he continued. “Development continues with legislators having the intent to possibly reduce regulations and undermine protections for sites.”

Cavalier-Keck said Wednesday that she was asked why the site in Cedar Point is important.

“A burial site and village are the most important connections to our past, especially here in North Carolina, as we are first-contact tribes, and any tribe that steps up to protect burial sites and incorporates our past into our future is vital, and that is why I’m supporting the Tuscarora Nation of North Carolina, because they have stepped up to protect this burial site,” she said.

A video of the altercation was shown during the press conference Wednesday.

Tuscarora Nation of North Carolina leaders said in a statement Thursday that the long-awaited video evidence “challenges the preconceived tendencies of non-Native media outlets to report before properly investigating all parties involved and general fact finding” and is one example of the oppression that Indigenous families such as the Tuscarora have experienced while fighting to remain a free, sovereign people since colonial contact.

“The Tuscarora Nation of North Carolina stands strong with our tribal citizens and other Native communities, and we will speak against violence of any kind in favor of our community’s tradition to gather in a peaceful, lawful manner to honor our ancestors,” leaders continued.

A contentious provision that would all but eliminate protections for archaeologically significant resources was stripped from an energy and environmental bill at the eleventh-hour last week, just days after an altercation at a site where Native American human remains were found during construction.

Sen. Norm Sanderson, R-Pamlico, asked the Senate late Wednesday evening to approve the amendment for House Bill 385, “Various energy/environmental changes,” that removed a section dealing “with all the archaeological situations that we have in North Carolina that have kind of sprung up on us recently.” Sanderson also represents Carteret, Chowan, Dare, Hyde, Pasquotank, Perquimans and Washington counties.

The bill first stirred up controversy when a provision was introduced June 6 during a Senate committee meeting that targeted the Coastal Area Management Act, which turned 50 this year. Among the changes were to restrict the Division of Coastal Management’s authority when issuing CAMA permits, including the division’s ability to consult other state agencies, such as the Office of State Archaeology.

The North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, in a June 10 response after the provision became public, explained that the language was “associated with a subdivision in Carteret County that is currently under construction where extensive Native American human burials and an undisturbed Woodland period (1000 BC – AD 1600) village site have been found.”

The bill’s language was edited after the June 6 meeting. The proposed CAMA overhaul was removed June 19, and then the attempt to simplify the Office of State Archeology’s involvement in development was tweaked during committee meetings June 25 and 26.

Sanderson continued that striking the section would allow more time to work on the language and bring in more stakeholders, to ensure that “this is an adequate bill and a very good bill going forward. We’ll do that in the long session,” he said, referring to the North Carolina General Assembly’s odd-year session that begins in January.

The Senate voted 29-18 to send House Bill 385 back to committee in the lower chamber. The measure still included controversial points, including a proposed terminal groin for Bald Head Island, and it appears stalled for now.

“We appreciate that the Senate paused legislative changes related to the Office of State Archaeology. We will continue to work with legislators as we seek to protect our state’s invaluable archaeological resources,” Cultural Resources Communications Director Schorr Johnson said Thursday.

Tuscarora Nation of North Carolina Public Relations Officer Rahnàwakęw Donnie McDowell told Coastal Review that while Tuscarora Nation considers the removal of the archaeological provisions was “a giant win,” he said that knowing that the issue will return again next session, “continues to drive our concern that developers and their legal allies will use their money and clout to grow their support for completely removing archaeological protections from all sites across the state.”

McDowell expressed his concern that “HB 385 has gained so much attention no one is talking about our tribal reaffirmation bill, HB 970.”

Tuscarora leaders are concerned that the attention to the archaeological provision has undermined the bill that would grant state recognition to the Tuscarora of Eastern North Carolina, add two members of the Tuscarora to the State Commission of Indian Affairs, and make Tuscarora people eligible for federal benefits and services.

House Bill 970 has been stalled in the House appropriations committee since early May.

Sanderson didn’t mention a specific archaeological situation last week during the Senate meeting, but the move to strike the provision came just days after a confrontation at the Bridge View development.

Tuscarora Nation of North Carolina, the Occaneechi Saponi and other extended Indigenous relatives, allies and supporters met in Cedar Point, “to peaceably honor the ancestors’ remains unearthed by construction and surveys,” Tuscarora leaders said in a June 24 statement.

Residents of the nearby development proclaimed that the 17 Rivers North Carolina American Indian Movement and Tuscarora participants “should get off the land across the road from the development, which is currently undeveloped,” the statement continues. “Tuscarora Nation members, witnessing this outrageous experience, report that a resident of the Cedar Point development physically assaulted a Native woman and her children.”

The Carteret County Sheriff’s Office issued a statement June 25 saying that when deputies arrived on scene, they discovered that an altercation had occurred and one resident had been stabbed in the arm with a small pocket knife. One suspect had been identified and warrants were obtained. The sheriff’s office said that this is an ongoing investigation and details would be released when appropriate.

Dr. Crystal Cavalier-Keck, a citizen of the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation and co-founder of 7 Directions of Service, an Indigenous-led environmental justice and community, explained during a press conference June 26 that she was in Cedar Point for the prayer.

“I am personally traumatized as one of the participants who escaped and naively waited for the others only to be told by legal, political, and spiritual leaders I trust that I could not rely on law enforcement protection in that county and to get my victims to safety. Because we were afraid for our lives, we drove three hours until we arrived safely at a place we trusted and a physician could see and address their physical damages,” said Cavalier-Keck.

Bridge View residents issued a statement June 27 that “As a community, we respect the ongoing archaeological efforts and the preservation of history. We ask that our safety, privacy and property investment, as well as the laws regarding trespassing on private property, receive equal respect from stakeholders and citizens and that these priorities are taken into account in future words and actions because they are at the forefront of our minds,” WRAL reported.

“We are discouraged to see inaccuracies being reported about our neighbors and the beautiful place that we call home. Bridge View residents are largely learning about archaeological finds within our subdivision alongside the general public through the media. We have little to no prior knowledge of what has been unearthed and where, or the future of development within our gates,” the statement continues. “Those questions are best directed to the North Carolina Office of State Archaeology and the residential developer, not the Bridge View residents who have been the subjects of unsolicited attention and aggression and placed in the middle of a debate beyond our control.”

North Carolina Office of State Archaeology staff are completing two projects to identify resources and communities on state-owned, coastal lands impacted by 2018 hurricanes and that remain at risk of damage from future storm events.

Called the North Carolina Shorescape Survey, the public will have a chance to learn more about what they discovered during two town halls on the projects aimed to identify, document and assess archaeological resources on the shorelines of the Scuppernong River Dedicated Nature Reserve, Alligator River Game Lands, both in Tyrrell County, and Hammocks Beach State Park in Swansboro.

The first town hall is scheduled for 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 11, at the Tyrrell Senior Center, 406 Bridge St., Columbia, and the second 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 12, at the Swansboro Area Heritage Center, 502 W. Church St., Swansboro.

Organizers said that the public is encouraged to share their knowledge of any historical sites, cemeteries, or stories about the history of these places, family or community ties or observations during the town halls.

Fieldwork at all locations was complete in December 2023 and data analysis is currently underway. Several new sites were discovered and paint a picture of long-term use of these lands. The fieldwork also revealed major impacts to sites in barrier island systems.

“The results of these studies are helping the state develop better management strategies and share the rich community and cultural histories of the North Carolina coast,” officials said.

The project was funded through the Emergency Supplemental Historic Preservation Fund appropriated by Congress in response to hurricanes Florence and Michael in 2018 and administered by the National Park Service.

More information on these and other projects related to changing systems can be found on the projects website or this past report, “Surveys to guide moves to save cultural sites on state lands.”

With the shoreline surveys of three state-owned lands complete, North Carolina Office of State Archaeology officials are waiting for the contractor’s draft assessment of storm-related impacts before they can develop a plan to protect these vulnerable cultural sites.

When that data is delivered in the coming months about Hammocks Beach State Park in the Swansboro area, and Alligator River Game Land and the Scuppernong River section of Pettigrew State Park, both in Tyrrell County, Historic Preservation Archaeology Specialist Allyson Ropp said recently that her office intends to look at ways to protect the cultural sites on land, underwater and in the tidal zone.

Called North Carolina Shorescape Survey, this project and the Historic Cemetery Survey, which documented how cemeteries had been affected by hurricanes and identified unmarked cemeteries, are being funded through the Emergency Supplemental Historic Preservation Fund, administered by the National Park Service.

The state’s archaeology office was awarded $1 million of the $17 million North Carolina received following the storm surges, rain and high winds from hurricanes Florence and Michael in 2018. Those storms threatened coastal historic structures and archaeological sites, according to an October 2023 update on the project. Both projects have been in the planning stages since 2020. Fieldwork for the shore survey wrapped up in late 2023.

Scott Seibel, associate vice president of multinational infrastructure consulting firm AECOM, told Coastal Review last week that his team worked on the three sites this past fall and are producing the draft report now. The plan is to deliver the draft by early March.

If there’s anything of interest in the data, they will explore it further, and if not, Ropp said her office will complete its report and then hold public meetings, most likely in April.

The three sites were chosen using a model that ranked the state-owned and -managed lands by environmental and historical significance.

Ropp said she designed the model by combining known data on storm surge and sediment movement, historic maps and existing archaeological information to prioritize all of the state lands in the 12 counties. Those counties are Beaufort, Bertie, Brunswick, Carteret, Craven, Dare, Hyde, New Hanover, Onslow, Pamlico, Pender and Tyrrell.

The shoreline is the focus because, as Acting State Archaeologist and Deputy State Archaeologist Chris Southerly said, there was a lot of activity at the shoreline environment, such as fishing or wading out into the water to collect shellfish.

“I’d say almost the majority of the cultural interface that we have maritime dealings with in water happens in that 60 meters (about 197 feet) one way to 60 meters the other from the shoreline,” Southerly said.

Because that interface can be difficult to reach, land-based archaeologists may not go all the way to shore and in-water archaeologists will stop where the boat stops.

Shorelines are where “a lot of cultural material could be lost,” Southerly continued. For example, an American Indian could have dropped something into the muck while getting out of his dugout canoe, or English settlers from their vessels, or by soldiers during war time.

The project in the Swansboro area is looking at archaeological sites within the shoreline environment – about 60 meters inland from the low-tide mark and about 60 meters offshore the low-tide mark – “to see how archaeological resources in those areas are being impacted by shoreline erosion, hurricanes, storm surge, inundation in general,” Ropp said.

Hammocks Beach is one of the more vulnerable sites, Ropp said, because the state-managed park is part of a barrier island, has a lot of known resources, and has a high potential for more to be discovered. The land also has a rich African American maritime history, which is another reason the park topped the list.

There are 27 known sites on two of the protected islands and the mainland. “Most of those, I believe, are prehistoric shell middens,” she said.

A midden is a mound of refuse that may include shells, fish and deer bones and plant remains — things Indigenous peoples harvested from the landscapes around them.

Southerly noted that shell middens are extensive in Carteret County and parts of Onslow County and are usually indicative of long-term habitation by American Indians. This means there’s a higher probability of finding an intact Native American site nearby.

“Shell middens are one of the key markers to look for along the coastal area for pre-contact American Indians,” he said, and built-up shell middens are a good indication of repeated settlement or habitation.

Both sites in Tyrrell County have a high potential for plantation-related resources, canal building, shipwrecks, and general marine infrastructure.

AECOM, a cultural resource management firm with offices all over the East Coast, performed this fall the land and in-water surveys with a field crew of about 15 and around 10 in the office working on artifact analysis and geographic information system, or GIS data.

The area for each of the three projects was 60 meters landward of the shoreline and 200 meters, or 656 feet, into the water.

The fieldwork at Hammocks Beach State Park included both terrestrial and underwater archaeology, Seibel said. “We surveyed the entire shoreline area of the mainland portion of the park, all of the shoreline area of Huggins Island, and the sound-side shoreline of Bear Island.”

For the terrestrial archaeology, which took place from early October to early December 2023, most of the work involved shovel-digging test pits at 100- and 50-foot intervals within the project area. The pits were about 12 to 16 inches in diameter and about 3.3 feet in depth.

The sediments were screened through 0.25-inch wire mesh to collect artifacts such as ceramic sherds, stone flakes and oyster shell from the pre-contact middens. They found brick and glass, too.

“We also inspected the ground surface for artifacts and features, such as brick foundations from former houses,” Southerly said. “All of our shovel test pits and any features that we found were mapped using a GPS system. Along the shorelines, we used an electronic data form to record information about the condition of the shoreline and the possible threats to archaeological sites from things like waves, tree fall, and looting.”

The underwater survey, which took about a week to complete, included using remote sensing equipment towed behind a boat including a side-scan sonar, magnetometer and sub-bottom profiler, Seibel continued.

“A side-scan sonar uses sound waves to produce images of the seafloor. A magnetometer records anomalies in the Earth’s magnetic field and is useful for identifying shipwrecks that contain iron, like nails,” he explained. “A sub-bottom profiler is similar to a side-scan sonar, except that it provides information about sediment layers below the seafloor and can be used to identify old and buried streams and terrestrial landforms from when sea levels were much lower than today.”

The terrestrial archaeology work was different at the two project locations in Tyrrell County, Seibel said.

“Along the Scuppernong River, since it was all cypress or cedar swamp, all we were able to do was slowly run a boat along the river’s edge to see if there were any signs of piers, docks, or other similar features or small areas that could be shovel tested,” he explained. “At the other project area along the Little Alligator River and fronting Albemarle Sound, most of the project area was also swamp, but often thick with phragmites, an invasive reedy plant. We were able to walk over the small beach areas looking for artifacts and dig shovel test pits in scattered areas.”

The underwater survey took about a week to complete for each of the areas, while the terrestrial survey work for all three areas totaled over three months last fall.

“As we expected, the mainland and Huggins Island portions of Hammocks Beach State Park have been used by people for thousands of years. Archaeological site types include large pre-contact shell middens and even a pre-contact village as well as the remains of historic home sites and a Confederate earthwork from the Civil War,” he said. 

At the sites along the Little Alligator River and Albemarle Sound, remains of fishing pound nets in the water were found as well as small scatters of artifacts from 19th and early 20th century houses and farms that used to line the shoreline of Albemarle Sound. Remains of a sunken ship were found during the underwater survey.

“Regrettably, there were no finds of any kind within our survey area in the Scuppernong River,” he said.

Seibel explained that this kind of work is important to North Carolina because it can help the state understand the types of archaeological resources present at Hammocks Beach.

“The more important aspect of the work is determining which of the archaeological sites along the shorelines of the park are under the most environmental threat and providing recommendations about how the state can prioritize preservation actions to help protect the most vulnerable archaeological sites and help preserve them for future generations,” he said.

In addition to the archaeological survey work, Seibel said they’re including a shoreline assessment to let the state know the types of environmental threats the archaeological sites at the park are under.

The assessment includes looking at historic and present-day data to determine the level of shoreline erosion that has taken place over the past 100 years or more, as well as projections for future erosion and other threats. This information is being used to help assess which archaeological sites are at the most risk and provide recommendations to the state for preservation efforts.

Ropp said the survey is not only going to be the baseline to gather the data of what’s at these locations and what they look like, but also testing out the methodology.

Coming out of this work will be foundational data for these areas as well as a way to perform this work, and come up with a methodology that can be adjusted as needed.

Combining AECOM’s management strategy suggestions plus boots on the ground, “we can come up with a means to manage and mitigate and adjust to these coming changes,” Ropp said.

Southerly said this work is going to be valuable in the long term because the methodology can be further developed to collect data about the different types of shorelines that “you would assume would probably be very similar” but are different, like the Alligator River and Hammocks Beach.

“You’re still coastal, you’re on the sounds, but putting tools in the toolbox so to speak, and having a methodology, having techniques, knowing what works, knowing what doesn’t work, lets us and lets other archaeologists once these reports are published, look at it and adapt and evolve the sites and that alone — other than figuring out what we’ve got here in North Carolina — that methodology, those techniques that can go into the field that someone else can use can help sites elsewhere, help someone else manage the sites collect the data before the sites become inundated,” he said.

Within this project, Ropp explained they plan to look at known sites across the coastal counties to see where they are in relation to some of these climate projections, particularly with sea level rise. “There’ll be a lot coming out of this project beyond the survey that we’re doing on the shoreline.”

Ropp and Southerly are encouraging the public to share any history or information about Hammocks Beach and the sites in Tyrrell County. Email the team at archaeology@ncdcr.gov.

The effort to conserve three dugout canoes excavated in the late 1980s from Lake Phelps within Pettigrew State Park will be the focus of the Museum of the Albemarle’s monthly History for Lunch.

Kimberly Kenyon, head conservator for the North Carolina Office of State Archaeology’s Queen Anne’s Revenge Conservation Lab in Greenville, will give the presentation scheduled for noon Wednesday, Nov. 15.

The program is being offered in person in the Gaither Auditorium inside the museum at 501 S. Water St., Elizabeth City, and through Zoom. To attend virtually, register in advance to receive the link.

Kenyon oversees the conservation of the three dugout canoes excavated from Lake Phelps in the state park located in Washington and Tyrrell counties 75 miles northeast of Greenville.

Kenyon will share the history of Native American activity around Lake Phelps, the discovery of dozens of canoes in the lake, and initial conservation measures taken for those recovered.  She also will discuss the renewed efforts to stabilize the canoes so that they are preserved for generations to come.

The virtual program is supported by Friends of the Museum of the Albemarle.

Update Sept. 5: The town hall meeting originally set for Aug. 31 by the North Carolina Office of State Archaeology in Swansboro has been rescheduled for 6-8 p.m. Sept. 14.

Update Aug. 29: Due to the threat of inclement weather, the North Carolina Office of State Archaeology will postpone a Town Hall meeting planned for Thursday, Aug. 31, in Swansboro. The meeting to gather local knowledge of the area’s historic sites, cemeteries, community ties and local history will be rescheduled.

Original post Aug. 18:

North Carolina Office of State Archaeology staff are holding a town hall meeting in Swansboro to collect local knowledge about Hammocks Beach State Park.

The meeting has been scheduled for 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 31, in the Swansboro Area Heritage Center, 502 W. Church St.

The town hall is about the agency’s project to identify, document and assess archaeological resources along the shoreline between 200 feet inland and 200 feet outward from the mean tidal zone in hurricane-impacted, state-owned and managed lands across the coastal counties.

This project will provide a baseline for understanding different climate change and storm effects on day and waterlogged sites, as well as broaden our understanding of coastal communities’ experiences and ways of life, officials said.

Researchers are hoping to identify at-risk sites associated with North Carolina’s maritime industries and African American communities.

Hammocks Beach State Park in Swansboro is one of the project areas.

Hammocks Beach, which began as a private park for African Americans, was donated to the state in 1961. The park is made up of a mainland area and three barrier islands, including the 4-mile-long Bear Island, according to the State Library of North Carolina.

Previous surveys identified archaeological resources ranging from prehistoric shell middens to historic industrial sites, and additional research indicates that there are other unidentified resources in the park. The state archaeology office is conducting another survey in the area to assess damage to the previously identified resources, and document erosion along the shorelines.

The town hall will begin at 6 p.m. with an hourlong open house. Attendees will be able to view maps of the project areas, a slideshow of the types of sites that are likely to be in the park, and chat with project researchers about the project.

The second half includes a presentation by AECOM, a resource management firm. This presentation will formally present the project goals, objectives, and methods for the project.

An Emergency Supplemental Historic Preservation Fund grant, money appropriated by Congress in response to hurricanes Florence and Michael in 2018 and administered by the National Park Service, supports the project.

ROANOKE ISLAND — Archaeologists have unearthed artifacts that appear to confirm the site of the Algonquian village on Roanoke Island, where Native Americans shared their dinner with the first English explorers.

“This is firm evidence that this locality was Roanoac, the village of first contact,” Eric Klingelhofer, vice president for research of the nonprofit First Colony Foundation, told a small group of reporters Friday during a briefing at the excavation site. “We’ve known about the village because that’s the place where English explorers sent by Raleigh first came.”

Pointing to broken pieces of pottery laid out on a makeshift table — a sample of the finds — the veteran archaeologist explained that the sherds came from Algonquian Colington ware and burnished ware pottery, both found during a recent excavation of the 16^th century strata. 

“Now that’s not the full story,” Klingelhofer added with a sly grin as he reached for small plastic bag. ‘’We found something else.”

He then gently pulled out a thread of copper that was bent into a ring shape, and was buried about 3 feet down in the top layer. Copper was much sought-after by Natives in the Southeast, but it was rare in the region and was nearly all acquired through trade.

“I was extremely pleased because I knew what it meant,” said Klingelhofer, referring to English contact. As he spoke, the waters of Roanoke Sound could be heard lapping at the shoreline behind the dig site, hidden by lush trees and bushes at the privately owned Elizabethan Gardens adjacent to Fort Raleigh National Historic Site.

Copper was a known currency for the first generation of American colonization, Klingelhofer said, adding that the copper strand most likely was a trade item that may have been worn by a Native as a ring. 

“There’s no other reason it would be here,” he said. “It must have come from the colonists.”

The Foundation team has asked conservators at Jamestown to analyze the copper, he said.

English explorers Phillip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe visited Roanoac in 1584 as part of a reconnaissance mission planned by Sir Walter Raleigh. The men were welcomed by the Algonquians, who invited them to dine and exchanged gifts with them. The Englishmen later described Roanoac as having nine cedar houses fortified in a round of “sharp trees.”

The following year, Ralph Lane, who was part of a larger Raleigh expedition, had been sent to Roanoke Island with about 100 soldiers to establish a fort and a settlement. Lane abandoned the island in 1586 because of hostilities — much apparently provoked by him — between the Native population and the English. Nonetheless, about 117 men, women and children from England arrived on Roanoke Island in 1587 to establish a permanent settlement. Known today as the “Lost Colony,” it disappeared without a trace and is often called the oldest mystery in American history.

Founded in 2003 by Klingelhofer and other professional archaeologists, the First Colony Foundation has conducted numerous archaeological explorations in and around Fort Raleigh National Historic Site on the north end of Roanoke Island, which is where the Lost Colony settlement is likely to have been built, as well as sites in Bertie County at the headwaters of the Albemarle Sound where, artifacts show, a small number of colonists likely had fled.

Findings over the years from Foundation digs have ranged from remnants of early wells, sherds from olive jars and pottery, a Cashie-type Indian pot, tobacco pipes, French ceramic flasks, glass trade beads, and an entire necklace of cut diamond-shaped copper sheets that the team believes may have been presented to a Roanoac noble. Advancements with remote-sensing technology have enabled First Colony researchers to eliminate some sites while homing in on other areas.

Klingelhofer and Foundation Co-Vice President Nick Luccketti had been part of late archaeologist Ivor Noel Hume’s Virginia Company Foundation team in the 1990s that determined that an area presumed to be associated with the reconstructed “Fort Raleigh” earthworks was instead the 1585-1586 workshop used by scientist Thomas Harriot and the metallurgist Joachim Gans — a notable discovery.

Further tests revealed evidence nearby of charcoal making and a brick kiln and led to other digs to the north and west that found 16th century artifacts. The work with Hume directly influenced establishing the First Colony group to create a partnership agreement with the National Park Service so that Elizabethan-era explorations could continue.

Although the Foundation, which includes academics and historians with expertise in precolonial and early colonial American activity and Native American culture, would welcome finding evidence of the Lost Colony, its focus has always been the broader story of the 1584-1590 Roanoke Voyages, which served as the playbook for English colonization and ultimately, for what became America.

Klingelhofer said that the team is up against time, as increased shoreline erosion consumes places to explore, and storms reconfigure potential historic areas.

Going back as far as the Great Chesapeake Hurricane in 1769, sand had buried the 16^th century site where archaeologists have recently dug. So far, Klingelhofer said, about 100 feet of shoreline has been lost on the north end of Roanoke Island, and water in the Albemarle Sound is about 3 feet higher than it was in the 1580s.

For the time being, he said, work on Roanoke Island is done. Meanwhile, he said he was looking forward to publication in November of a book detailing archaeology and historic research done by the Foundation and its predecessors, “Excavating the Lost Colony Mystery, The Map, the Search, the Discovery,” which is edited by Klingelhofer.

But the team plans to resume explorations soon at other sites in and around Fort Raleigh and Bertie County. They will also expand beyond the Native American village excavation to see how far it goes, now that the location has been nailed down to their satisfaction.

“So it’s been a good little dig,” Klingelhofer said. “We are very happy to bring our search for Roanoac to a conclusion.”

ROANOKE ISLAND — At first take, it was as dull as watching someone mow a lawn. But the man pushing an odd, three-wheeled cart back and forth over an open, grassy area at the Elizabethan Gardens on Wednesday could help archaeologists find one of the most significant locations in Colonial American history: the place where Native Americans had their first contact with the English.

“He’s looking for anomalies below 9 feet,” explained Eric Klingelhofer, a veteran archaeologist and founding member of the nonprofit First Colony Foundation, who was observing nearby.

Robert Chartrand, owner of Chartrand Geoarchaeological Solutions of Williamsburg, Virginia, was using GPS technology to survey about a fifth of an acre within the gardens that archaeologists believe could potentially contain artifacts from the Algonquian village of Roanoac, whose members interacted with English explorers in 1584.

Klingelhofer, one of the foundation’s vice presidents for research, said that reexamination of a previous 1953 exploration done by National Park Service archaeologist Jean C. Harrington indicated that there may be more to find.

During a dig that year at the Elizabethan Gardens, which is owned by the Roanoke Island Historical Association and is supported as a subsidiary of the Garden Club of North Carolina Inc., Harrington had unearthed a portion of a Colington Ware pot that was likely from the 1500s, according to a 2022 paper by Klingelhofer and Eric Deetz, “Searching for Roanoac, Archaeology in the Elizabethan Gardens 1953-2022.”

But in the foundation’s recent review of Harrington’s field notes, which were provided by the National Park Service, it appears that Harrington’s digs stopped at about 6 feet, rather than the 9-foot depth where circa-1600s artifacts would be, Klingelhofer recently explained to Coastal Review.

“So, we’re going to get a much better picture,” he said, watching as Chartrand worked. “About 90% of the grassy area here is untouched.” That means when the archaeologists reach the Native American ground surface level and go below it, they would have a better chance of finding evidence, such as post holes, food storage pits, or midden, than if the area had been disturbed.  

Chartrand, who is an archaeo-geophysicist, had also worked with archaeologists at Jamestown Island from 2015 to 2019. Although it looks like he’s simply pushing a cart with a small box in the middle, the description of his work is complex and highly technical.

“I’m systematically collecting data at certain intervals,” he explained in the simplest terms.

Every foot or so, working to the east, then to the west, from the center line he marked out on the grassy area on the north end of the gardens, the attached GPS device takes an image 1.5 to 3 meters, or about 5 to 10 feet, below the surface.

Once the data is collected, Chartrand will use software with a standard ground-penetrating radar program to interpret it.

“I can look at the cross section and then I’ll be able to create a 3D image based on all the lines (of data) I’ve collected,” he said, adding that the image is a bird’s-eye view.

“I can change the elevation so I can see the progression of what’s beneath the surface.”

Chartrand said that, in essence, the algorithm defines “unknown space based on known space” on the landscape. The program uses standard coordinates, which he defines, so that any ground-penetrating radar operator can later find them.

“So if an archaeologist wants to go back to excavate a subsurface anomaly, they can relocate it with the GPS,” he said.

The final report will take about a month to complete. At that point, the First Colony Foundation will determine whether excavation is warranted, Klingenhofer said. If so, it would have to be conducted with the cooperation of the Elizabethan Gardens, and the funds for the dig would have to be raised by the foundation.

“The Elizabethan Gardens is a memorial to the lost colonists and will forever be a part of that mystery,” said Elizabethan Gardens Executive Director Theresa Armendarez in an April 11 foundation press release. “To find artifacts from that time in America’s early history would be an exciting addition to our unique history.”

As the first of the 1584-1590 Roanoke Voyages, Sir Walter Raleigh sent explorers Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe on two ships to Roanoke Island with a mission to investigate land west of the barrier islands.

When the explorers landed on the island, Algonquian leaders greeted them. The Natives later shared food and clothing with the English strangers and invited them to warm over their fire at their village, which the explorers described as “nine houses, built of cedar, and fortified round with sharp trees.”

“This notable moment of hospitality, where Englishmen first entered the home of an Algonquian noblewoman, and were treated with such respect and kindness, is the true First Contact between the cultures,” according to the paper.

Those first English visitors were dazzled by the Natives. “We found the people most gentle, loving, and faithful, void of all guile and treason, and such as lived after the manner of the golden age,” the explorers wrote.

Unfortunately, the good feelings did not last long, with later Roanoke voyages marked by attacks on tribes and retaliation by the Native Americans, perhaps leading to the failure of the 1587 settlement of 117 men, women and children which disappeared without a trace.

While the so-called “Lost Colony” that was last seen in August 1587 gets the most attention, the foundation, from its beginning in 2003, has been focused as much on the earliest English explorations on Roanoke Island. They served as a lesson plan for later colonization in 1607 at Jamestown.

Whether or not there are anomalies found by Chartrand’s technology, the work will lead to an answer of where — or where not — to look for Roanoac and the “Point of First Contact,” Klingelhofer said.

But with accelerated erosion of the Roanoke Sound shoreline along the border of the Elizabethan Gardens, there is a sense of urgency for the foundation. Much of the land that may have revealed secrets has already been lost.

“Since the 1800s, the shoreline here has receded more than a hundred yards, with numerous Indian artifacts found in the water and beach,” the 2022 paper said. “It must be watched carefully for archaeological artifacts and features being destroyed by coastal erosion.”

Dr. Chris Oakley, professor in the Department of History at East Carolina University, is slated to speak at 6 p.m. Thursday for this month’s installment of the “Science on the Sound” lecture series at the Coastal Studies Institute on the ECU Outer Banks Campus.

This monthly, in-person, lecture series brings perspectives from all over the state and highlights coastal topics in northeastern North Carolina. Each lecture is free of charge, and all are welcome to attend. 

In his presentation entitled “Maritime Indians: The Coastal Algonquians of the Outer Banks,” Oakley will highlight his research on the coastal Algonquians native to the region.

Although the Carolina Algonquians did not develop extensive ocean navigation and exploration, evidence strongly suggests that their culture was heavily influenced by the sea and the coast well before the arrival of Europeans. In fact, a significant portion of their culture and society was based on an environment that was dominated by the presence of water, especially the large sounds created by the barrier islands of the Outer Banks, according to the institute.

This project will examine the maritime history, culture, and legacy of the Carolina Algonquians of eastern North Carolina. The project will employ a multidisciplinary approach, incorporating history, anthropology, archaeology, geography, and biology.

The program will be livestreamed and a recorded version will be available for later viewing on the institute’s YouTube Channel.

Updated Nov. 9:

Due to a forecast of inclement weather from Tropical Storm Nicole, the groundbreaking ceremony at Fort Fisher State Historic Site, originally scheduled for Thursday has been postponed. A new date and time for the event will be announced, officials said Wednesday.

Original post:

A groundbreaking ceremony is set to take place at Fort Fisher State Historic Site at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 10 to mark the start of construction of a new visitor center and conservation lab for the Underwater Archaeology Branch of the Office of State Archaeology.

Located at 1610 Fort Fisher Blvd. S, Kure Beach, Fort Fisher is part of the Division of State Historic Sites in the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Attendees at the groundbreaking are expected to include Secretary D. Reid Wilson of the Department of Natural of Cultural Resources, members of the North Carolina General Assembly and members of the Friends of Fort Fisher. Light refreshments will be served.

Construction is expected to be completed in April 2024. The new facilities is estimated to cost about $25.5 million, most of which has been appropriated by the General Assembly since 2016.

In planning since 2010, the new visitor center is to be 22,000 square feet, three times the size of the existing facility built in 1965.

The new visitor center will have nearly double the museum exhibit space, plus amenities such as a 100-seat orientation theater and a multipurpose room suitable for rental and educational activities such as wedding receptions and classroom instruction.

This month’s Science on the Sound talk, hosted by the Coastal Studies Institute, will delve into the history, culture and legacy of the Algonquians of eastern North Carolina.

Dr. Chris Oakley, professor in the history department at East Carolina University in Greenville and a 2022 Integrated Coastal Programs Coastal Fellow, will be at the ECU Outer Banks Campus 6 p.m. Thursday to share his research on coastal Algonquians native to the region in a presentation entitled “Maritime Indians: The Coastal Algonquians of the Outer Banks.” The lecture is free to attend and all are welcome. The institute is located at 850 N.C. 345, Wanchese.

Science on the Sound is a monthly, in-person, lecture series brings perspectives from all over the state and highlights coastal topics in northeastern North Carolina. The program will be live-streamed and a recorded version will be available for later viewing on the CSI YouTube Channel.

This facet of Oakley’s research examines the maritime history, culture and legacy of the Carolina Algonquians of eastern North Carolina, and his study as an Integrated Coastal Programs Coastal Fellow employed a multidisciplinary approach, incorporating history, anthropology, archaeology, geography and biology. 

According to information the institute provided about Oakley’s research, there is also a tendency to think of Native Americans as exclusively terrestrial people and cultures, but evidence suggests that their culture was heavily influenced by the sea and the coast.

“In fact, a significant portion of their culture and society was based on an environment that was dominated by the presence of water, especially the large sounds created by the barrier islands of the Outer Banks.”

Shipwreck enthusiasts can now get an up-close look at the Blake Ridge wreck, which rests more than 130 miles off the North Carolina coast in over 7,000 feet of water, along with a handful of other shipwrecks in waters surrounding the United States from the comfort of their own home.

With the opening of the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM, Virtual Archaeology Museum, visitors to the website can view video, detailed three-dimensional models and mosaic maps of shipwrecks from the 19th and 20th centuries discovered by BOEM in the course of underwater research and oil and gas exploration.

“With the opening of BOEM’s Virtual Archaeology Museum, users are able to easily access these models on their own computers and see shipwrecks lying on the bottom of the ocean, some for hundreds of years,” the agency said in a news release. “Professional and amateur scientists will have the ability to monitor these shipwrecks over time, gauging changes to the shipwrecks and their artifacts, as well observing the various aquatic species that inhabit their hulls, making the bottom of the sea accessible like never before.”

For the last few years, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research and BOEM have worked together to gather data at shipwreck sites in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic.

The surveys were made using remotely operated vehicles, or ROVs, and underwater videography. Computer technology was used to create photo-real and hyper-accurate 3D models from two-dimensional imagery.

“With the ROVs we can clearly examine the artifacts in these shipwrecks up close, in thousands of feet of water. Through the use of the 3D models, we can see each shipwreck site as a whole and monitor changes to it over time,” said BOEM Gulf of Mexico Regional Director Mike Celata in a statement. “The Virtual Archaeology Museum will serve as a valuable teaching asset in both school and university classrooms, and the data collected will be a focal point for underwater researchers, its online presence allowing collaboration worldwide.”