Chattanooga, TN – Officials have announced that this lecture (July 21 at 6 p.m.) is part of a monthly series of speakers including researchers, resource management professionals and archaeology students to highlight archaeological research in Tennessee.
Dear Chattanoogians, the series is hosted by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation’s Division of Archaeology.
State Archaeologist Phil Hodge released the following statement:
“When we think about underwater archaeology, we perhaps imagine the faraway ocean wreckage of Spanish galleons, lost Mediterranean cities, or more recently the Antarctic discovery of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance. However, researchers like Dr. Smith are documenting submerged archaeological sites in inland lakes and rivers and are demonstrating the power of such sites to present a more complete picture of the past.”
The Tennessee River is full of inundated archaeological sites which have seen little if any formal monitoring or survey since their inundation over half a century ago.
These include the Civil War shipwreck Chattanooga and the Paleoindian LeCroy site.
This conversation will highlight the process and significance of submerged sites research, the importance of the underwater archaeological record of Tennessee, the state of UTC’s research on the aforementioned sites, and future plans for research on these resources.