Roanoke Colonies Research Newsletter
Volume 4.1 (November 1996)

Coastal Archaeology Office Established

A new Coastal Archaeology Office has been established within the Institute for Historical and Cultural Research at East Carolina University. Approved on July 3,1996 by W. Keats Sparrow, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, the new office wilI serve as a research and service agency for various archaeological and archaeology-related projects in the coastal area, as well as cooperative ventures with such agencies as the National Park Service, the Roanoke Island Historical Association, the Elizabethan Gardens, and the Cape Hatteras School, among others. Physical and curation facilities are currently located in the Institute's Phelps Archaeology laboratory on the main campus.

Projects currently underway include a program of test excavations at the presumed site of "Croatan" at Buxton on Hatteras Island, a continuing study of shoreline erosion on the north end of Roanoke Island (a joint geological/archaeological project), a summary of lithic resource use in the coastal area, and the preparation of reports on previous projects.

The "Croatan" project is part of a larger study of Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands, which together made up the Algonkian chiefdom of Croatan figured prominently in the period of English colonization in the late sixteenth century. A local suppoort group on Hatteras Island has been formed to assist the project with volunteers and to raise funds for the work. As part of this cooperative venture, a workshop to train loval volunteers to recognize archaelogical sites was held on November 2, 1996, at the Cape Hatteras School, and other such training and education activities are planned for the future.

Dr. David S. Phelps serves as the director of the Coastal Archaeology Office; Dr. John E. Byrd (East Carolina University Anthropology) and Dr. Bennie C. Keel (Southeast Regional Archaeologist, National Park Service) are research associatyes int he office.

Anyone wishing information on the Coastal Archaeology Office or its projects is welcome to contact Dr Phelps at:

Coastal Archaelogy Office
Institute for Historical and Cultural Research
East Carolina University
Greenville, NC 27858-4353

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