Archaeological Data Recovery Area 5 Fig Island Channel Site Savannah Harbor

From September 6 to 16, 1993, Panamerican Consultants, Inc. (PCI), of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, under subcontract to Gulf Engineers and Consultants, Inc., Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was engaged in archaeological investigations at Savannah, Georgia. During this 11-day period, PCI personnel conducted initial documentation of two suspected vessels, completed diver investigations along a stretch of the north wall of the Savannah Harbor navigation channel, searched local historical records for site-specific materials, and, in an effort to determine if other vessels, vessel remnants, or structures were present, probed and trenched Area 5 of the Fig Island Channel Site on the north bank of the Savannah River just opposite the downtown district. Results of subsurface probing, trenching, and diver investigations of the channel wall to a depth of 20 feet were negative. The remains of two suspected historic watercraft are threatened by ongoing maintenance activities of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers Savannah Harbor Navigation Project and dredging operations slated for the Savannah Harbor Deepening Project. With the aid of locally available historic documentation, including photographs, the following tentative conclusions were reached: "Vessel 11" was determined to be probable wharf or dock remnants; Vessel 12 may be the remains of either a phosphate barge from the late nineteenth century or a snag boat from the early twentieth century. Data regarding the character, extent, and condition of the latter were gathered, and scopes of work are being devised for more ambitious data recovery plans slated for the very near future.