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Kayak surveys in estuarine environments: addressing sea-level rise and climate change

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 August 2019

Leslie A. Reeder-Myers Open the ORCID record for Leslie A. Reeder-Myers [Opens in a new window]  and
Torben C. Rick
Leslie A. Reeder-Myers*
Affiliation:
Anthropology, Gladfelter Hall, 1115 Pollett Walk, Temple University, Philadelphia PA 19022, USA
Torben C. Rick
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, 10th and Constitution Avenue, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C. 20013, USA
*
*Author for correspondence (Email: leslie.reeder-myers@temple.edu)
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Abstract

Coastal archaeology is vulnerable to climate change, making the development of new techniques for the rapid recovery of information from the most threatened sites essential. The authors report a systematic kayak survey of a Chesapeake Bay sub-estuary undertaken during the winter months, when low tides and reduced vegetation maximise the visibility of archaeological material. Locations in the vulnerable intertidal zone were targeted for survey. Data were collected for 24 archaeological sites, illuminating local settlement chronology. This technique could be used for the survey of endangered coastal archaeology in other regions of the world.

Keywords

North AmericaChesapeake Bayshell middenheritage management
Type
Method
Information
Antiquity , Volume 93 , Issue 370 , August 2019 , pp. 1040 - 1051
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2019 

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