"Seeking comparative data on 18th and 19th century cob style wharves at tidal
inlets.  Also seeking information on 18th and 19th century spar house/ shed
sites."
 
I am posting for Martha Pinello, Staff Archaeologist, at Strawbery Banke
Museum who has been unable to log on to HISTARCH (she was following my
instructions, which may explain things!).  If someone could cross-post to
the maritime archaeology list it would be most appreciated.
 
Please reply to Martha at [log in to unmask] since she is not on HISTARCH
at this time.
 
A hitch in the 106 review process led to the recent exposure of portions of
an early 18th-century wharf across the tidal inlet known as Puddle Dock at
Strawbery Banke in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.  The wharf stretched across
the mouth of the inlet, thereby narrowing the entry channel; Martha wants
to know if there are other, excavated examples of wharves of this sort and
whether their presence right at the mouth of the inlet was a deliberate way
of controlling tidal flow to expedite navigation.  (Please pardon the
relative ignorance on my part of proper nautical terms.)
 
The wharf remains are of cob construction; seated on the wharf are
foundations of 18th- and 19th-century structures, among them a building
identified as a spar house or spar shed (this based on map/documentary
evidence).  Is anyone aware of excavations of such a structure?
 
Because Strawbery Banke Museum's mission is to interpret the
17th-19th-century waterfront neighborhood around Puddle Dock, construction
planned at the wharf site has been halted and a long-term research program
into the waterfront is being planned.  This will involve reanalysis of
earlier work at other wharf sites and additional excavation/research into
the newly uncovered wharf and the buildings on it.  Comparative information
on similar sites is, therefore, eagerly sought, as are ideas on how best to
organize and conduct a thematic research program of this nature.
 
Thanks, colleagues, for any assistance you can provide!
 
 
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Mary C. Beaudry
Editor, Northeast Historical Archaeology
Associate Professor
Director of Graduate Studies
Department of Archaeology
Boston University
Boston, MA 02215
 
tel. 617-353-3415
fax. 617-353-6800
email [log in to unmask]
 
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