SHA's Heritage at Risk online exhibit
Heritage at Risk
View 2022 updated StoryMap version of online exhibit here!
Archaeologists worldwide are concerned about climate change, both in impacts to heritage sites but also to the communities they serve. In 2017, the Society for Historical Archaeology formed the Heritage at Risk Committee (HARC) to promote research and outreach on this topic. This exhibit features case studies by archaeologists working in different communities around the world to shine a light on the issue and look for sustainable solutions. As the exhibit travels conference to conference and venues in between, we hope it will further engage archaeologists and members of the public to take action and contribute more case studies year to year. Full text of the case studies presented are available: www.fpan.us/HARC.
Scroll down to view all case studies, or click on one to jump to from the list.
North American Case Studies
Midden Minders (Maine)
Howard W. Middleton (Maine)
Delaware Bay
North Carolina
South Carolina
Ponte Vedra (Florida)
Shell Bluff (Florida)
Estate Little Princess (St. Croix USVI)
Alaska
European Case Studies
Fethaland fishing station (Scotland)
Brora coal and salt industry (Scotland)
Zulu ghost fleets (Scotland)
Dinas Dinlle (Wales)
Orford Ness (England)
Thames Discovery Programme (England)
Midden Minders: A Citizens-Science Project to Document and Monitor Erosion of Maine’s Shell Middens
Alice Kelly (The University of Maine)
Maine’s coastal heritage spans thousands of years, and begins with the indigenous hunters/gatherers/fishers who relied on the rich resources of the region’s ocean, coastline, marshes, and adjacent forests. The record of their occupation and the environment in which they lived is preserved in shell middens. However, these valuable archives are disappearing as sea-level rise and changing weather patterns impact the Maine coast.
The Maine Midden Minders seek to engage local citizens and tribal members individually and as part of conservation organizations to monitor and document change at shell middens along the coast, and to preserve shell midden information in a database to be used by researchers and cultural resource managers.
Northern Exposure: The Howard W Middleton
Jennifer Jones (East Carolina University)
Location: Higgins Beach, Maine
Problem: Risk from rising sea level and severe storms is detrimental to Higgins Beach and the Howard W. Middleton shipwreck site’s survival. Additionally, shoreline change has continuously shifted over time, pushing the beach spit further toward the Spurwink River mouth and creating a sand flow that embeds the wreck.
Site Description: A 145 ft., 560-ton schooner, Howard W. Middleton hit a submerged reef off the mouth of Spurwink River at the eastern end of Higgins Beach, Maine while transporting coal in 1897. Higgins Beach, a long barrier spit, represents an isolated beach and dune system fronting the river marsh system around Scarborough. The ebb-tide delta pushes sediment down-drift of the beach over the last century. The site is exposed by low tides and inundated again every high tide, while the vessel remains deeply embedded in the estuary system due to the foundational bedrock and sheltered embayment.
Impacts on Site: The shifts in shoreline present unique challenges, providing both burial and daily exposure; varying beach profiles provide increased sediment coverage and burial in the summer months, while winter declines in shoreline sediment lead to exposure. The site has been entombed by sand deposited through normal processes, shifting minimally, while tidally-influenced energy and severe storms create a persistent scour in the beach that redirects sediment sources away from embedding the site, threaten structural integrity, create biological habitat that interacts with the wooden structure, and fluctuations in ice and snow that cause structural damage to wooden features. Additionally, over the past century, sea level has risen at this site at a rate of 1.9mm/yr. Erosion on the southwest of the beach has led to the use of shoreline stabilization structures--70% of this area armored with seawalls. However, the community still faces risk from rising sea level and severe storms.
Action: Because of risk from sea level rise and increased storminess, the local community actively participates in beach management, having developed plans to combat climate change issues and maintain shoreline. Although the site is not continually monitored by specific managing entity, the local community is very protective of the wreck, seeing it as an asset that draws visitors to their beach. The local community takes initiative to prevent any vandalism Although pieces are naturally falling off the vessel, harsh winters and little off-season visitation may help prevent loss of site integrity due to public access during the winter months. Photographic documentation of the wreck, also a way of updating the State’s heritage inventory, is a feasible way to for the local community to contribute to monitoring any changes that may occur over time.
Legacy and Loss along the Delaware Bay
Heather A. Wholey and Daria Nikitina (West Chester University)
Location: Delaware Bay, United States
Problem: Delaware Bay is the second largest estuary along the U.S. Atlantic coast and is experiencing some of the gravest effects from sea level rise. Probabilistic sea level rise models project localized (site level) effects at the decadal level. There is high probability that 78 sites and National Register listed properties will be severely impacted within the next decade, and hundreds more before 2100. It is imperative to identify when specific resources are projected to be impacted so that they can be prioritized for documentation, research, salvage, or preservation.
Project Description: This interdisciplinary geo-archaeology project involves applying probabilistic sea level rise predictions to known cultural resources of the Delaware Bay, and paleo-geographic modeling to predict high probability locations for further archaeological discovery. Field visits to the 78 sites likely to be negatively impacted by the year 2030 includes recording observations regarding the integrity of the dune and marsh systems that serve as natural protective barriers to storm surge and sea level rise. This involves high and low tide mapping at site frontage, sediment coring in the fringing salt marshes, archaeological survey, traditional still photography and, in certain cases, 3-D photogrammetry.
Impacts on Site: Long term impacts to sites along the Delaware Bay coastline include burial under unstable mudflats, burial under marsh sediment, or inundation under the open water of the Delaware Bay, rendering them inaccessible for future research or public benefit. Immediate impacts include storm surge, shoreline erosion, and hurricane damage to above ground resources. The East Point (Maurice River) Lighthouse in New Jersey was listed on the National Register in 1995, and the boundary expanded in 2011 to form the East Point Archaeological District, which contributes to, among other things, Maritime History. Fieldwork and GIS modeling indicates that these resources are threatened by rising sea levels, storm surge, and costal erosion. Current work involves overlaying hurricane forecast models, as hurricane or super storm events are likely to be the most devastating threat.
Action: Time is of the essence for many of these cultural resources. A coordinated effort to address threats, mitigation, and preservation requires a coordinated effort between scientists, planners, preservationists, and environmental resources managers. This involves developing a prioritization schema, which this project has in part undertaken through the predictive modeling of adverse climate driven effects. Specific efforts to moderate the most immediate threats would need to involve environmental mitigations such as dune stabilization and/or wetlands restoration. More immediate efforts should include on-the-ground documentation and digital data visualization through photogrammetry, laser scanning, 3D geospatial analysis (GIS), etc. These undertakings would not only provide a form of virtual preservation but also raise public awareness. Additionally, the baseline data regarding site integrity can provide tools for use by trained citizen scientists engaged in site level monitoring. Lastly, public education and engagement is key. Next steps for this project will involve producing web-hosted Story Maps that are publicly accessible, graphically illustrate the situation of specific case studies from the project, and visually narrate legacy and loss on the Delaware Bay.
Sorna Khakzad (University of West Florida)
Due to proximity to the Atlantic Ocean a variety of heritage sites are threatened by sea level rise, erosion from waves and tide, beachfront erosion, and ongoing wind/rain erosion. In this table, Sorna Khakzad summarized threats, efforts, and complications surrounding five case studies examined in her East Carolina University dissertation.
South Carolina
South Carolina’s Archaeology Month posters submitted by Meg Gaillard and Dr. Karen Smith with permission to reprint in this exhibit.
Heritage at Risk
In 1996, at the Society for American Archaeology (SAA) Annual Meeting in New Orleans, the Public Education Committee's Archaeology Week and Network Subcommittees, along with the SAA's Council of Affiliated Societies, sponsored the first Archaeology Day, Week, or Month poster contest. The State Archaeology Celebration Poster Contest has continued every year since, and this year, South Carolina's poster series with the theme Heritage at Risk was designed by SCDNR Heritage Trust archaeologists Meg Gaillard and Karen Smith, PhD.
Within the Southeastern United States, more than 19,000 recorded archaeological sites will be submerged by the end of the 21st century with a 1-meter rise in sea level. The 2019 South Carolina Archaeology Month Heritage at Risk poster series highlights four sites in South Carolina that are directly impacted – Pockoy Island, Fort Frederick, Spanish Mount and Charleston. Each poster in the series can be downloaded for free and printed on 11” x 17” paper. The bookmark (double-sided) can also be downloaded for free and printed at 2.5” x 8.5”. While supplies last, all four posters in the series and the bookmark are available to pick up for free at Parker Annex Archaeology Center.
Special thanks to Jamie Koelker of Koelker & Associates who provided aerial imagery for the Pockoy Island, Spanish Mount and Fort Frederick posters; photographer Jared Bramblett who provided imagery for the Charleston poster; Katherine Saunders Pemberton of Historic Charleston Foundation for writing the text for the Charleston poster; Tammy Herron of the S.C. Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology for editing the poster series; and Brad Sauls of the South Carolina Department of Archives and History for facilitating the grant funding.
A Disappearing Act: The Ponte Vedra Shrimp Boat
Jennifer Jones (East Carolina University)
Location: South Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
Problem: South Ponte Vedra Beach faces erosion from storms, inundation, waves, and development projects that threaten existing resources. South Ponte Vedra Beach has experienced significant loss of beach and dune width since 2007, receding an average of 1.3 ft/yr, adding pressure to existing structures and prompting the designation of two miles of the beach as critically eroded. Within this dynamic environment, wreckage of a historical shrimp boat has been a regular occurrence for at least 25 years, providing locals with a resurfacing piece of the past, and managers with an archaeological con
Site Description: Exposed material was found sticking out of the dune after a nor’easter system came through the area October 14-15, 2013. The exposed frames and depth to keel were recorded with some excavation and was confirmed to be the remains of a shrimp boat. After the remains were recorded and sampled in 2013, St. Augustine Lighthouse Archaeological Martime Program (LAMP) archaeologists reburied the wreckage. But upon survey of the beach in June 2016, the wreckage was again slightly exposed following a late spring storm in the region; approximately 11.9 ft. of the vessel extended out of the dune and was surveyed by drone and scaled drawings.
Impacts on Site: Physical challenges to the South Ponte Vedra site come from erosion that occurs due to severe storm processes. Despite the shallow and narrow beach, the usually substantial dune system provides stability for survival of the wreck site. As it were however, the dune system was recently flattened during Hurricane Matthew (October 2016); it is not known whether the site was either destroyed or simply reburied. Additionally, despite collaborative mediation efforts by groups such as LAMP and Florida Public Archaeology Network (FPAN), the relative isolation of the South Ponte Vedra site makes it difficult for archaeological entities to regularly monitor.
Action: The reburial in 2013 and hurricane-induced burial in 2016 can preserve the integrity of the vessel, and also prevent issues that arise from access. However, if the wreck is permanently lost due to the changes in the dune system, the information documented in 2013 and 2016 provide record of this historical vessel type as well as environmental changes. Furthermore, FPAN has been using this case as an example of how quickly the cultural heritage can be impacted, even lost, on dynamic coastlines, spurning further development for the Heritage Monitoring Scouts that monitors and documents changes to archaeological sites at risk. Collaborative monitoring of both cultural and natural resources is of growing interest to professional and volunteer groups, and in some cases is the only way certain sites will be continually examined. Continued monitoring should focus on the reestablishment of the dune system and any further exposure of the vessel.
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| Before: Ponte Vedra Shrimp Boat in Ponte Vedra, FL |
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| Before: Ponte Vedra Shrimp Boat in Ponte Vedra, FL |
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| Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, October 2016, post Hurricane Matthew (Sarah Miller). |
Heritage Monitoring Scouts (HMS Florida) at Shell Bluff Landing
Sarah Miller and Emily Jane Murray (Florida Public Archaeology Network)
At Shell Bluff Landing north of St. Augustine, Florida, sea level rise, increased/intensified storms, and boat-wake action continue to batter and erode this intracoastal site. The multicomponent site features a dense marine shell midden containing artifacts from the Late Archaic Period, Florida’s Mississippian-era St. Johns Period and the later Spanish Mission-Period, as well as evidence of use as plantations by Menorcan homesteader Juan Andreu and British Governor James Grant. Ongoing monitoring by Heritage Monitoring Scouts, a program of the Florida Public Archaeology Network, helps track changes to the site over time and provides information for the land managers at the GTM Research Reserve. In just two years between Hurricanes Matthew and Irma, 5 m of shoreline washed away into the river.
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| HMS Scouts assess erosion at Shell Bluff Landing after Hurricane Matthew (FPAN). |
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| Composite photo of changes at Shell Bluff Landing since monitoring began in 2016. |
Hurricane Irma and Maria and Cultural Heritage in St. Croix, USVI: The Estate Little Princess
Justin Dunnavant (Vanderbilt University), Ayana Flewellen (UC Riverside), William White III (UC Berkeley), Alicia Odewale (University of Tulsa)
Location: St. Croix, US Virgin Islands
Problem: Climate change is a severe threat to heritage sites throughout the Caribbean. Over the last decade, rising sea levels, earthquakes and hurricanes have posed severe threats to heritage sites in the Caribbean. In during the summer of 2017, hurricanes Irma and Maria damaged several heritage sites and heritage resources (archival libraries) on the island of St. Croix. While efforts to rebuild and restore damaged heritage sites are underway throughout the U.S. Virgin Islands, the 2018 and 2019 hurricane seasons brought with them continued heavy rains and ongoing damage to heritage sites. As heritage professionals working in the Caribbean, we need to take more intentional measures to assess potentially threatened sites and mitigate hurricane damage.
Site Description: The Estate Little Princess is an 18th century Danish plantation that operated into the early 20th century. Sugar was the main crop of cultivation, but ground provisions were also grown. At its height, the plantation encompassed 200 acres of land and housed 141 enslaved Africans. The site currently serves as the regional headquarters for The Nature Conservancy. Standing structures on the site include remains of the great house, hospital, overseers house, well-tower, windmill, enslaved cabins, and rum distillery. In 2017, archaeologists excavated the enslaved quarters to better understand the life of the enslaved and construction history of the cabins.
Impacts on Site: The site is frequently impacted by heavy winds and rain caused by hurricanes. Historical accounts report significant hurricane damage to the site in 1772 and again in 1989. After hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, the roof of the Great House was destroyed which led to flood damage in the interior of the building. The upper part of the well tower was also damaged. Shoreline erosion and rising water levels are more substantive long-term impacts we anticipate for the site. Since the 2017 hurricane season, efforts to restore the Great House and historic hospital (now being used as office space) are still ongoing. Since the summer of 2019 the structural integrity of the buildings have been deemed inadequate for operations. Other historic buildings at the site (the overseers house, well-tower, windmill, enslaved cabins, and rum distillery) continue to fall into disrepair due to lack of funding.
Action: In December of 2017, nearly three months after hurricanes Irma and Maria, members of the Society of Black Archaeologists conducted a post-hurricane assessment of the site. While they found minimal damage to the site, aside from the damage to the great house and well-tower, they discovered that structures surrounded by bushes and tree cover fared better after the hurricane than those structures left exposed. We believe the tree cover provided a buffer against the heavy winds and rain of the category 4 and 5 hurricanes. While actively planting trees around historical structures could cause root damage and threaten the integrity of the site, leaving tree cover around the site could help to mitigate potentially harmful storm damage.
The Fishing Stations of Shetland: Evidence of a Maritime Industry Being Lost to the Sea
Tom Dawson (SCAPE)
Location: Fethaland, Shetland Islands, Scotland
Problem: To lessen the distance fishermen had to row and sail, the thriving fishing station at Fethaland was situated as close to the North Atlantic fishing grounds as possible. The houses and stores were constructed on a narrow, low-lying isthmus, giving them access to an eastern and western anchorage and a stony hinterland to dry their heavy cargo of fish. The fishermen are now gone and their abandoned village lies miles from the nearest inhabited house. The drystone walls of the roofless houses are cracking and collapsing, and the sea encroaches from both sides depending upon the direction of the wind.
Site Description: Like other Shetland fishing stations, Fethaland acted as a base for deep sea (haaf) fishing from at least the eighteenth century. Crews operated six-oared open boats (sixareens), travelling many miles to catch cod on long lines which were brought ashore and processed on the stony beaches. Haaf fishing was seasonal, and the small houses were occupied from May to August, while other buildings were used for storage and supplies. Changes in boat design and a series of fishing disasters that claimed many lives led to the village being abandoned in the late 1800s; and just the roofless buildings remain to remind us of this lost way of life.
Impacts on Site: Located at the far north of Shetland’s main island, Fethaland is exposed to huge storms and massive seas rolling in from the North Atlantic. The sea erodes the soft coast edges and undermines the surrounding cliffs, causing large rockfalls. The low-lying site is also vulnerable to sea level rise, and extreme high tides and storm surges are able to penetrate further inland and affect an increasing number of the structures. In addition to instability caused by the sea, heavy rainfall and strong winds damage the roofless dry-stone buildings. Designed for seasonal occupation, they are becoming increasingly unsound as water penetrates wall cores and dislodges stones. The exposed window lintels and door jambs have started to split and crack and sections of wall have collapsed. The isolated site is an impressive reminder of a thriving industry, but each passing storm causes further damage and decay.
Action: The local community, working with local and national heritage bodies (Shetland Amenity Trust and Historic Environment Scotland), commissioned a survey to record the condition of the structures. The project team (SCAPE, Queens University Belfast and St. Andrews University) used a laser scanner to create a 3D model of the landscape, capturing the interior and exterior of each of the thirty buildings. A detailed photographic survey also recorded each building; with each image annotated to show areas of weakness. Archival research charted the development of the fishing station and comparative images showed how Fethaland has changed since it was originally photographed in the 1800s. All of the information was used to develop management plans, but additionally formed the basis of an interactive display in Shetland Museum. Here, visitors learn more about this lost industry by navigating through a gaming version of the 3D model, clicking on hotspots and locating virtual objects based on actual display items from the Museum.
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| Erosion and building on the same eastern site of Fethaland (SCAPE). |
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| Laser scanning some of the buildings (SCAPE). |
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| Boats at Fethaland in the 1890s, by J D Ratter (Shetland Museum and Archives). |
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| Same view as above today (SCAPE). |
"The ancient glory of Brora laid bare:" Coastal Erosion Reveals the Remains of 17th-Century Coal and Salt Industry in Highland Scotland
Joanna Hambly (SCAPE)
Location: Brora, East Sutherland, Scottish Highlands
Problem: "the sand banks along the shore have been considerably encroached upon, and … the action of the sea against the banks has laid bare a row of buildings which must have been for ages lain imbedded in the sand… Numbers of people flock to visit this long hidden relic of the ancient glory of Brora." This event reported in the Inverness Advertiser in 1869 shows coastal erosion here is nothing new. Since then the sea has taken a further 20m of coastline and with it the surviving remains of a unique 17th century coal-fired salt making industry.
Site Description: In 1598, Lady Jean Gordon, Countess of Sutherland built the first salt pans at Brora and worked the most northerly coal seams in Britain to supply them. Thus began Brora’s long relationship with coal and salt. The salt provided much needed cash for an estate on the edge of bankruptcy in a period of famine and constant feuding, in part caused by the effects of the Little Ice Age (1500-1850). The remains of Jean’s pan houses were what were exposed in 1869. Between 2007 and 2012, the community of Brora joined forces with SCAPE to rescue information from further buildings eroding from the dunes.
Community Response: Community led excavations of the endangered site has resulted in a wealth of new knowledge about an early industrial enterprise in the Highlands. The eroding building turned out to be the girnel (store), office and accommodation for the salters. It holds the stories of the salters and of Brora’s place, for a brief period, in an international network. The earliest glass known in the Highlands, probably imported from France was found here. A unique find of symbols and monograms inscribed around a fireplace may have been carved by visiting merchants. Similar symbols are known in Sweden and Germany. Salt made here was exported to Holland, the Baltic and England. The salters’ diet was rich in seafood and the occasional horse and sea bird was eaten. A thick layer of spent coal from the pan hearths can be identified as an archaeological marker of the beginnings of our fossil-fueled anthropocene era.
Action: The action taken by Brora residents to rescue information from their eroding coastal heritage is a continuing source of local pride. The knowledge created, from a site which has since been destroyed, has made a significant contribution to our understanding of the earliest industrial enterprises in Scotland. The archaeological remains tell the story of the very beginning of the use of fossil fuels for industrial development, providing a long view of one of the causes of anthropogenic climate change.
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| Jean Gordon's office (foreground) and girnal fully excavated from the sand (SCAPE). |
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| The building a year later following severe easterly storms in December and January (SCAPE). |
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| Is this the archaeological beginning of the anthropocene? Jacquie plans the remnants of a wall from Jean Gordon's pan house with layers of fuel slag raked out from the pan hearths visible in the section in front of her (SCAPE) |
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| Teamwork by the Brora community revealing the building from the sand (SCAPE). |
Two Fishing Boat Graveyards
Ellie Graham (SCAPE)
Location: Loch Fleet, Dornoch, Scottish Highlands, Findhorn Bay, Moray coast, Scotland
Problem: Two intertidal boat graveyards on Scotland’s east coast encompass the remains of late 19th - early 20th century wooden sailing drifters which formed the herring fleets of the local communities. Sitting abandoned on the shore for over 100 years, inundated at every high tide, the fragile wooden vessels are deteriorating through the natural processes of decay, exacerbated by warming seas, rising sea levels and changes in biological activity on the boats’ timbers.
Site Description: These two sheltered bays were regularly used by the local fishermen as safe havens in bad weather and for winter storage of their fleet of herring drifters. The vessels known as Zulus were highly-specialized and represent the apogee of sailing fishing boats developed to serve the booming national fishery. However, they were rapidly rendered obsolete by the introduction of steam power in the early 20th century, and the redundant boats were abandoned where they were laid up as fishing communities turned away from their traditional livelihoods. A combination of archival research and archaeological survey recorded the sites and their history.
Impacts on Site: As the wooden boats and metal fastenings holding them together decay, a tipping point is reached when recognizable hulls become loose collections of timbers on the foreshore. Although this is inevitable and natural for such intertidal remains, the impacts of climate change, warmer seas and changing patterns of destructive marine life will intensify and accelerate the process. The local herring fishery has passed out of living memory and the physical remains are among the last reminders of this once-thriving industry. As they vanish, the stories of these fishing communities will also fade.
Action: These sites were championed by members of the local communities, who initiated projects to investigate them. Archaeological survey has created a preservation by record of these now-rare but once ubiquitous boats as their deteriorating condition reaches tipping point into complete loss. The process of recording also galvanized archival and local history research to capture the stories behind these boat graveyards. This corrected a misconception that the abandonment of the fleet dated to the outbreak of the First World War and instead illustrated the loss of a vital local industry in the face of technological developments and the responses of the communities at period of great social and economic change in the early 20th century. These stories have now been published and celebrated – thanks to the impetus of volunteers who first drew attention to them.
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| The remains of two Zulus, Findhorn Bay (Michael Sharpe). |
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| Recording the remains, Loch Fleet (SCAPE). |
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| The Moray coast herring fleet in the safe haven of Findhorn Bay, c. 1908 (Findhorn Heritage). |
Eroding Heritage at Dinas Dinlle Prehistoric Coastal Fort
Toby Driver (CHERISH Project)
Location: Near Caernarfon, Gwynedd, North Wales, UK.
Problem: Dinas Dinlle is a spectacular prehistoric coastal hillfort owned by the National Trust. It is set on a hill of glacial drift sediments overlooking the Irish Sea. The hillfort is protected as Scheduled Monument and the hill is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). However ongoing coastal erosion has removed around a third of the monument since it was constructed with up to 40 meters lost in the last century. Assuming future rates of erosion will be higher than those observed due to climate change, Dinas Dinlle could be completely lost within 500 years.
Site Description: Dinas Dinlle coastal fort dominates the small seaside resort village of the same name to the north and is a popular destination for walkers. The defended hilltop is highly conspicuous for miles around. Due to the dangers posed by the eroding cliff edge, no excavations had previously been attempted and little was known about the date of the monument before the new study by the CHERISH Project. Whilst probably Iron Age (Celtic) in date, chance finds of Roman coins and pottery and its mention in Early Medieval Welsh legends suggest a long occupation.
Impacts on Site: Dinas Dinlle is a baseline monitoring site for the European-funded Ireland-Wales CHERISH Project. The eroding western cliffs have long been threatened by the sea. Predicted rising sea-levels and storm surges are leading to increased erosion of the cliff face. More intense droughts desiccate the fragile coastal soils leading to wind erosion. Recent observations after intense rainfall also show that sub-surface water is pushing off the front of the cliff face, with the hillfort ditches effectively acting like gutters, channeling water down the cliff face.
New work by CHERISH has included gathering highly accurate 3D data to monitor the eroding cliff edge using terrestrial laser scanning and UAV/drone photogrammetry. This provides an accurate baseline for future study, while repeat monitoring visits by CHERISH and a team of dedicated local residents also highlights seasonal change. CHERISH Project monitoring in February 2019 recorded a massive fresh cliff collapse at the southern end of the fort.
Action: The constantly eroding soft cliffs have long made Dinas Dinlle a challenging site to study but in June 2019 a small team of CHERISH archaeologists used rope access to examine the eroding face. This was followed by the historic first excavation within the fort for three weeks in August with 50 local volunteers taking part.
Turf stripping revealed tonnes of sand overlaying the archaeological features, in places around 1.5m deep. Once removed, deeply-buried stone structures were revealed. By far the most impressive was a monumental stone-built roundhouse just a few metres from the cliff edge. Measuring 13m in diameter, with walls 2.4m thick, it is one of the largest ever found in Wales. Dates are awaited but it is probably late Iron Age, with Roman pottery indicating re-use in later centuries. Its excellent preservation suggests that the initial sand deposition may have been rapid, probably during periods of major storm activity.
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| Dinas Dinlle coastal fort (AP) |
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| Professor Helen Roberts OSL sampling the sand above the round house (CHERISH Project). |
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| Laser scan of eroding cliffs (CHERISH Project). |
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| Community excavation public open day 2019. |
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| Roundhouse conjectural reconstruction (Toby Driver). |
The Coastguards Watch House and the 'Admiralty Structure'
Lara Band (CITiZAN)
Location: Orford Ness, Suffolk, UK
Problem: In 2015, when CITiZAN first recorded this site with volunteers, this 19th century watch house and 20th century military structure were about 20m from the coast edge. The shingle shelf they sit on is incredibly dynamic, with up to 8m erosion and deposition a year and these structures are now in imminent danger of collapse.
Project Description: CITiZAN, the Coastal and Intertidal Zone Archaeological Network, has been recording and monitoring sites at risk from the effects of climate change since 2015, with the help of over 1000 volunteers.
Site Description: One site is Orford Ness, a shingle spit facing the North Sea. Once home for secretive military research, the extensive natural habitat and 80 buildings are cared for by the National Trust. The watch house is mid-19th century and was armour plated in 1915. The mysterious concrete structure dates to the Cold War; remains of electrics and a single historic photograph suggest it was for ballistics or radar trials.
Impacts on Site: The erosive force of waves, wind and tides along this exposed stretch of coast are the greatest threat to the site. Storms have torn at the roof of the Coastguard watchhouse, making it increasingly, structurally, vulnerable. The shingle shelf is incredibly dynamic and can see up to 8m of erosion and deposition in a year, with debris from structures along the coast edge dragged out to sea by one storm and thrown back up by the next. Efforts to stabilize erosion elsewhere along the coast have created further pressures on the site, through the deflection of wave power.
Action: We can’t save this site physically but it can be 'preserved by record.' In 2016 volunteers created a 1:100 plan of the site, 1:20 elevation drawings of the Admiralty structure and a photographic record including digital 3D models. They recorded the site with the CITiZAN app for our online, map of coastal heritage and we wrote a full report, including documentary research for the National Trust. During subsequent site visits the volunteers updated the app entries, recording the deterioration of the Coastguards watch house. An emergency final record needs to be made and, subject to weather, sea and funding, a drone flight will capture a final wave of information before the structures fall into the sea.
Anne Garland (Applied Research in Environmental Sciences)
This project continues the development of the Utqiagvik (Barrow) community-based coastal observation network and the coastal hazards forecasting system about surge, flooding, and coastal erosion. The existing monitoring consists of weather, waves, wind, soils, and survey of six cross-shore transects along the city shoreline initiated in 2015 by Applied Research in Environmental Sciences Nonprofit, Inc. (ARIES) and North Slope Borough Office of Emergency Management (NSB OEM). The transects monitor critical infrastructure and archaeological resources (see photographs of subterranean frame houses eroding along the bluffs and surge/permafrost thaw impacts of bluffs). With Alaska Sea Grant and the National Science Foundation awards, the monitoring was expanded. First, community observers photograph storm surge heights with a near-shore landmark after being stadia marked (see photo of near shore upright). Second, an ARGUS video camera is being deployed on a public utility pole to document the near-shore wave conditions and water level. Third, data management, access, and a profile tool are provided by AK Coastal Hazards, DGGS. Data collected by the observers are used to calibrate and validate a storm surge, coastal flooding, and coastal erosion forecasting system. This project demonstrates how community-based monitors, coastal hazards forecasters, erosion researchers, and emergency managers can collaborate to share knowledge and mitigate risk to infrastructure and archaeological resources. The project includes public education and workforce development with HS curricula about coastal erosion, community volunteers, and students who practice service learning about coastal monitoring, coastal forecasting, and emergency response.
Eliott Wragg
Location: River Thames in Greater London
Problem: By the later 19th century much of London’s foreshore had been consolidated through dumping gravel, rubbish and building debris to provide a stable working surface, the collapse of the port in the mid-20th century led to a neglect of this artificial landscape sealing successive earlier phases of activity and occupation. The abandonment of the port has led to the river now being used by pleasure and commuter craft creating much more wash than before. This, along with increased river flow due to climate change has led to, in places, rapid erosion of the archaeology of the foreshore.
Project Description: From at least the late Mesolithic period, people have been active in and around the river Thames, it being a wonderful source of food and water. The Roman and later Saxon towns were situated on its banks. For much of the last millennium the Thames foreshore in the central London area has been a hive of activity, thousands of people employed in loading and unloading vessels, building and breaking ships, using the Thames for transport, fishing, washing and watering. Features and deposits from stretching across these periods have been by the more than 700 trained volunteers of the TDP.
Impacts: The twin archaeological sites on both banks of the Thames are under threat from increased river flow due to climate change and wash from passing vessels travelling at high speeds.
Action: In 2008 Gustav Milne along with Nathalie Cohen set up the Thames Discovery Programme as a three year Heritage Lottery Funded project operating out of UCL, the Museum of London and the Thames Explorer Trust. From 2011 the project has been hosted by MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology). Since 2008 the project has trained more than 700 volunteers in recording the archaeology of the foreshore, of which around 100 are regular participants. Each year throughout the summer months centrally organized targeted fieldwork sessions undertake detailed recording of threatened sites, while the volunteers have formed self-organising Foreshore Recording and Observation Groups (FROGs) to monitor erosion and the emergence and disappearance of features along the river. Features recorded range from a late Mesolithic structure through a Bronze Age bridge or jetty, Iron age structures, Saxon fishtraps, Medieval and post-medieval jetties, causeways, stairs and river defences to evidence for shipbuilding and breaking.
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| TDP volunteers recording in 2019 a 17th century jetty, which once led to the Tudor Royal Palace at Greenwich. |
Special thanks to the Heritage at Risk Committee pop up exhibit subcommittee (Nicole Grinnan, Allyson Ropp, and Sarah Miller) for exhibit design and fabrication and all those who contributed to the exhibit: Jennifer Jones, Alice Kelley, Heather A. Wholey, Daria Nikitina, Sorna Khakzad, Meg Gaillard, Dr. Karen Smith, Sarah Miller, Emily Jane Murray, Justin Dunnavant, Ayana Flewellen, William White III, Alicia Odewale, Tom Dawson, Joanna Hambly, Ellie Graham, Toby Driver, Lara Band, Anne Garland, and Elliot Wragg. Exhibit sponsored by the Society for Historical Archaeology and Florida Public Archaeology Network for the 2020 annual meeting in Boston, MA.