COMBINED APPROACHES TO INTERTIDAL PLANTATION ARCHAEOLOGY: TOWN CREEK AND THE CAPE FEAR RIVER ESTUARY, BRUNSWICK COUNTY, NC.

Foreshore and intertidal archaeology are often underutilized approaches to studying partially submerged archaeological sites. A recent study conducted on Town Creek in Brunswick County, NC, however, highlights the many possibilities for this research. This is particularly true in coastal contexts, where environmental factors including strong tides and currents, hurricanes, and rapidly changing shorelines, are increasingly exacerbated by climate change and leave archaeological sites exposed and vulnerable to destruction. Identifying and recording these sites are important steps in understanding and protecting North Carolina's diverse coastal history. Employing colonial and antebellum rice plantation waterfronts as a case study, this paper applies methodologies drawn from terrestrial and maritime archaeology to identify and record sites of enslavement in Southeastern North Carolina. Numerous previously unknown sites were identified and recorded during this process, demonstrating the utility of a multidisciplinary approach for working in foreshore and intertidal contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]