Andrew Pietruszka

Maps, Manuscripts and Survey: Middle Range Theory and the Bath Creek Submerged Cultural Resource Survey.

(Under the direction of Dr. Lawrence Babits) Department of History, 2005

Nestled between Bath and Bass Creeks, one mile north of their confluence with the Pamlico River, Bath, North Carolina is situated in a location ripe with maritime tradition. From the pre-contact natives who used the creek's rich marine resources to the coastal schooners whose trade reached throughout the Atlantic World, Bath Creek has played an integral part in North Carolina history. In order to get a more complete history on Bath Creek, a systematic geophysical survey utilizing magnetometer and side-scan sonar was conducted in Bath and Bass Creeks to ascertain the creek's submerged cultural resources. During this process, Middle Range Theory was used to combine historical, environmental, and prior archaeological data into a series of multiple hypotheses concerning expected cultural resources to be found in the creek. This survey resulted in the discovery of one new anomaly and the re-evaluation of one previously discovered.