Conference Agenda

This presentation draws from my thesis research, which focuses on the knarr: a large, ocean-going cargo vessel used during the Viking Age. Unlike the more widely known warships, the knarr was specifically designed for transporting goods across the North Atlantic and played a crucial role in the development of long-distance trade networks in medieval Scandinavia and beyond. My research reexamines historical sources, archaeological evidence, and ship reconstruction studies to better understand the construction methods used in building these vessels. By analyzing hull design, materials, and construction techniques, I explore how the knarr contributed to the expansion of maritime commerce and cultural exchange across Northern Europe. This presentation will outline the research process, key findings, and conclusions drawn from the study, highlighting the importance of the knarr not just as a technological achievement, but as a vital component of Viking Age economic and social life.

In order to form a comprehensive understanding of ancient resource use and procurement, studying submerged paleolandscapes is necessary. Models of prehistoric lifeways are incomplete at best without investigations of the entire landscape available. Prior to post-glacial sea level rise, the Atlantic Continental Shelf was a dry, resource-filled zone ~11,000 years ago. In 2009, individuals from Zulu Marine Services incidentally found a geological outcrop of chert, with lithic raw material resembling that found at terrestrial sites in the region. In order to systematically investigate this discovery, a side scan sonar survey was completed to map the outcrop and any associated features. The processed sonar mosaic will be used to plan future exploratory dives and to collect lithic material for characterization. This study will also help to further the scope of submerged paleolandscape research in North America and aims to demonstrate an Indigenous presence on the Atlantic outer continental shelf.

There is limited data concerning forager lifeways of the Early Holocene (~9-11 KYA) in the Great Lakes region due to poor preservation in terrestrial contexts. Inundated paleolandscapes like the Alpena-Amberley Ridge (AAR), an Early Holocene landform now submerged 30m below Lake Huron, offer the unique opportunity to find site and artifact types that are rarely preserved terrestrially. Previous investigations on the AAR have found spring and autumn caribou hunting sites and well-preserved organic materials, but no concrete evidence has been found for other seasonal activities. Using catchment analysis informed by ethnohistorical and archaeological data from similar subarctic environments, this paper presents a predictive model created in GIS to find habitation sites used during summer months on the AAR. It aims to document the diversity of resources used by hunter-gatherers, elaborate on seasonal mobility, and take advantage of the superior organic preservation of Lake Huron.

In 1917, to offset a rise in merchant shipping losses from German U-boats, the U.S. Congress established the United States Shipping Board (USSB) and the Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC) to oversee the rapid construction of wooden ships. Several variations of ship designs were adopted throughout the construction effort, with the two leading designs being the Ferris type and the Hough type. The Hough type primarily differed from the widely used Ferris type, using a hard chine rather than curved hull. This work provides an overview of the 2024 archaeological investigation of the first Hough type constructed, North Bend (located in NOAA’s Mallows Bay Potomac River National Marine Sanctuary).