Phase II Archaeological Data Recovery Area 4 Fig Island Channel Site Savannah Harbor, Georgia

From December 2 to 14, 1993, Panamerican Consultants, Inc., of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, under subcontract to Gulf Engineers and Consultants, Inc., Baton Rouge, Louisiana, conducted Phase II archaeological data recovery of five suspected vessels (site number 9CH738) on the north shore of the Savannah River opposite downtown Savannah, Georgia. These vessel remains are threatened by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers channel maintenance activities for the Savannah Harbor Navigation Project and dredging operations slated for the Savannah Harbor Deepening Project. No specific identifications of the vessels have been made, but all were apparently abandoned sometime in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. Vessel 21 is probably a steam tug, heavily salvaged after abandonment. Vessel 23, a squared, hewn timber 40 feet 2 inches in length, was discovered resting about 6 feet under the marshy surface of the eastern extreme of Area 4. No other features were found. Vessels 22 and 25 are examples of cross-planked bateaux, or flat-bottomed skiffs. The size, probable schooner-bow configuration, and construction features of the vessel from which the hull fragment was removed suggest that this structure dates to the last half of the nineteenth century. It is not apparently associated with other vessel remains in the immediate or general area of the Fig Island Channel site. No recommendations for further work are offered for any vessels investigated under the current contract. However, the proposed synthesis of data produced by the numerous recent investigations in the Fig Island Channel site project area is strongly supported.