Locating and Mapping Archaeological Rice Cultivation Artifacts Associated with the Gullah Geechee Tradition Using Visual Observations and Side Scan Sonar

Abstract

Rice cultivation on southern plantation landscapes was a mainstay and major cash crop along the southeast coastal region of the United States in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The workforce involved in growing rice was primarily enslaved Africans and freed African Americans of the Gullah Geechee culture, whose ancestors were forcibly brought over from West Africa, often due to their superior knowledge of rice cultivation. Today, in the tidal regions of major rivers from Florida to North Carolina, the vestiges of complex canal and waterway systems engineered for rice cultivation are still evident today. Within these systems, there are various wood-built, water-control structures in the form of structural dike supports, floodgates and sluices, levee repairs, bulkheads and boat landings. In this study, a combination of visual observations using non-motorized vessels, combined with a customized side scan sonar system designed specifically for shallow water surveys, was used to identify and map dozens of artifacts within the shallow canal and waterway systems of Eagles Island, North Carolina, where there is historical evidence of significant rice growing in the region. The study focused on the northern third of the island, where rice fields are essentially intact, and was designated Eagles Island Rice District. The results of the 2-year study identified 45 rice-related archaeological structures being discovered, in addition to a nineteenth century watercraft. The novel and effective survey techniques employed in this study can be adopted elsewhere within the southeastern United States to locate, map and preserve the knowledge and engineering expertise of the Gullah Geechee, upon whom the region’s economic success depended.