At the Crossroads: Maritime Systems in Transition & the Elizabeth City Ships' Graveyard

Building on ten years of local and international ships' graveyard study by faculty and students within the Program in Maritime Studies at East Carolina University, this project proposes a study of the most extensive collection of abandoned ships thus far found in the state. Through maritime archaeological study of sites such as the Elizabeth City Ships' Graveyard, researchers hope to answer questions regarding human behaviors and interaction with the natural and cultural maritime environments. The Elizabeth City assemblage, because it is also a collection of ships with diverse functions (from large canal steamers to smaller coastal craft) represents an extraordinary opportunity to study abandonment behavior patterns and site formation processes in an urban setting in order to illuminate historic trends in marine technological adaptation, the economic environment, as well as prevailing social behaviors that is not likely found elsewhere in the state. In essence, by looking at this collection of watercraft as a microcosm of forces within maritime trading systems of the US eastern seaboard, researchers hope to reconstruct and analyze the now defunct maritime commerce systems that drove the development of the state of North Carolina and its trading partners. This research should also illuminate the development of Elizabeth City as an important hub of maritime activity, as well as the evolution of trade along the eastern seaboard.

Scholars @ ECU