Waders and Snake Chaps: Targeted Exploration and Ground Truthing in the Great Dismal Swamp
Author(s): Becca Peixotto
The Great Dismal Swamp of Virginia and North Carolina was home to disenfranchised Native Americans, enslaved canal company laborers and maroons who lived in the wetlands temporarily and long term ca. 1660-1860. This paper discusses recent and ongoing research to identify mesic islands, likely sites of maroon occupation, in the interior of the Swamp. In the past decade, the Great Dismal Swamp Landscape Study (GDSLS) has intensively investigated a few maroon and enslaved labor sites, leaving vast swaths of inhospitable and challenging swampland archaeologically unexplored. LiDAR, satellite and aerial imagery, historic documents and results of GDSLS excavations all guide current ground-truthing and exploration efforts. Filling in gaps in the map will expand our knowledge of the complex physical and social landscape of the Swamp and support future stewardship of the archeological resources in the area.
Cite this Record
Waders and Snake Chaps: Targeted Exploration and Ground Truthing in the Great Dismal Swamp. Becca Peixotto. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, Washington, D.C. 2016 ( tDAR id: 434749)
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min long: -129.199; min lat: 24.495 ; max long: -66.973; max lat: 49.359 ;