Shoreline Change Analysis and Maritime Archaeology in Coastal Georgia

Maritime archaeological sites located in dynamic coastal environments are continually affected by natural geomorphologic processes. The Georgia coast has a highly active and complex ecosystem encompassing nearly 1200 miles of actual shoreline which intensifies archaeological site-masking and forces counterintuitive search parameters. Levels of erosion, accretion, turbidity, and shore migration are often severe, thus searching for shipwrecks or inundated shoreline sites is often difficult. By using a recently developed statistical mapping tool called AMBUR (Analyzing Moving Boundaries Using R) in conjunction with more conventional archaeological methods, researchers are targeting submerged archaeological sites in Georgia waters. AMBUR’s innovative approach was designed to examine coastal geomorphic cyclicity and create detailed conceptual models based on subsequent data analyses which allow researchers to determine how particular shoreline and bottom formations may have appeared at specific points in time. This information could prove crucial to understanding navigational routes, settlement patterns, and archaeological site formation processes.