Cape Fear’s Forgotten Fleet:
The Eagles Island Ships’ Graveyard, Wilmington, North Carolina

Sami Kay Seeb
MA Candidate
Program in Maritime Studies
East Carolina University
Greenville, North Carolina

Research Questions

A number of secondary questions will also be investigated throughout the course of the research:

PRIMARY RESEARCH QUESTION:

How do the archaeological remains of the vessels in the Eagles Island Ships’ Graveyard reflect the social, political, economic, and technological events and processes of Wilmington and adjacent communities?

SECONDARY RESEARCH QUESTIONS:

Secondary research questions for this thesis relate to three main areas of enquiry. This includes questions emerging directly from the observation and interpretation of archaeological data, as well as the correlation of archaeological information with archival sources.

Abandonment Behavior & Site Formation

ØWhat specific behavioral attributes are associated with abandonment? Are there different behavioral attributes associated with deliberate abandonment and accidental abandonment? What are the results and implications of each type of abandonment in the cultural, economic, and technological realms?

ØWhich vessels in the study area wrecked? Which vessels in the study area were abandoned in an officially authorized abandonment zone? Which vessels were left in actively used areas of the river? Are there vessels in the study area abandoned under other circumstances? How are these differences reflected in the archaeological remains?

Ø Do vessel types influence the location or methods of disposal?

ØDoes spatial analysis of the discard reveal any patterns or important indicators associated with behavioral, economic, or technological aspects of the society?

ØWhat are the archaeological signatures of abandonment processes? Do these signatures provide us clues about the socio-economic status of salvagers, and/or the role of technological change in salvage activities?

ØWhat other types of abandonment appear in the archaeological record and how do they compare and contrast, theoretically and physically, to watercraft abandonment?

ØWhat associations can be made between theoretical issues of abandonment and other realms of archaeological enquiry including theoretical sub-disciplines of landscape, industrial, and behavioral archaeologies?

ØWhat effects, if any, have harbor/river improvements over the years had on site formation?

ØWhat is the connection between land use/waterway use and abandonment in terms of the physical location of industry and abandoned watercraft?

Economic Trends

Ø Can analysis of land use in Wilmington and on Eagles Island be an indicator of economic trends? Are these economic trends reflected in the watercraft remains?

Ø Does Wilmington’s economic history mirror or differ from regional, national and international trends? How is this reflected in the abandoned vessels?

Ø Does reuse correspond to specific social and economic conditions of the time on a national and international level in addition to the regional level?

ØWhat kind of economic implications do abandonment and salvage activities have on social groups on local, regional, national, and international levels?

ØAre economic benefits the primary motivation for salvage? What role do technological and/or social purposes play in motivating discard events?

Technological Trends

Ø What can be gleaned from analysis of correlations between the technologies of the abandoned vessels at Eagles Island, and our current understanding of ship typologies, construction methods, and watercraft utilization from regional, national and international perspectives?

Ø What are the signatures of reuse, and what technological circumstances serve as the catalysts of reuse behavior?