Shirley Plantation Sediment Coring Project

Carter, Saunders, and Kiser
operating the vibra-core.

Introduction
On September 9, 2010, the Shirley marine archaeology crew, Charles Carter, Chee Saunders, Taft Kiser, and Theresa Hicks collected three core samples (labeled Core 1, 2, and 4) of river sediments from randomly selected locations around the nineteenth century wharf complex. The goal was to determine stratigraphy and the degree of sediment accumulation since the first European colonists inhabited and farmed along the James River. The crew used a vibracore braced on an aluminum A-frame with the engine sitting within an anchored jon-boat. Two samples were extracted upriver and one sample just downriver from the dock complex. The 7 ft. depth cores were taken and stored in 3 in. wide by 10 ft. long aluminum casings. The crew quickly realized that while three cores were successfully harvested, there were others better equipped to collect and analyze sediment cores.

Carter brought in the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) of the College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia, to collected four cores in the James River off of the Shirley Plantation Wharf complex. VIMS used a vibra-coring system deployed from a boat launched from Hopewell and collected four cores samples total on two field days: February 2, 2011 and April 6, 2011 (Kuehl 2011: 1).

Project Objectives
The sediment coring had six main objectives:

1. To determine the characteristics of the shallow stratigraphy and sediments in the immediate vicinity of the historic wharf at Shirley Plantation on the James River.
2. To determine if there is a measurable change in sediment characteristics pre- and post-wharf construction.
3. To estimate the amount of siltation which has occurred since the wharves were built.
4. To determine the feasibility of coring and/or geotechnical measurements in reconstructing the original river bottom bathymetry prior to wharf construction.
5. To determine if changes in sediment character are sufficient to enable a remote sensing approach (i.e., high-resolution seismic) in order to map the old river bottom surface.
6. To recover any artifacts contained in the cores to help develop a sediment chronology (Kuehl 2011: 1).

Upon return to W&M, VIMS analyzed the four cores for density using a Geotek multi-sensor core logger, and split and described for color, texture, and sedimentary structure. In addition, cores were imaged using digital x-radiography to obtain a measure of density variations and to identify and remove any suspected artifacts (i.e., pottery shards). Subsamples were also taken for water content measurements.  In addition to these cores, three additional cores were provided to the Institute by the Shirley marine archaeology group.  These cores were split, x-rayed, and described.



Figure 1. April 29, 2007 Google Earth map showing core locations
relative to the Shirley Wharf Complex. 

Results and Discussion

Generally, all of the cores contained high mud content (Silt+Clay), with some mixed sand and organic material in sections.  From visual and x-radiographic characterization, all seven cores were highly bioturbated in the top sections, with decreasing bioturbation and increasing stratification down core (Figure 2).  The two longest cores (Dock and Deep) penetrated a marked transition near 3 m sub-bottom depth, where significant changes in density structure and composition were observed (Figure 3).  An erosional (scour) surface was also evident at this depth. In these two cores, density increases at the transition, and varies below, as seen in the gamma density profile. Layers enriched in organic matter are common beneath the transition, and relatively rare below (Kuehl 2011:3). 

Figure 2.

Figure 3.

Significantly, artifacts were recovered in three of the four VIMS cores, which provide a temporal framework for the recovered sediments:

1) Mortar at 153 cm in the Shore core (Figure 4).

Figure 4.

2) Rosehead nail at 309 cm in the Dock core (Figure 5).

Figure 5.

3) Clinker (coal) at 221 cm in the Midpoint Core (Figure 6).

Figure 6.



The two longest cores, the Dock and Deep, provided key pieces of information that can be used to address the overall objectives of this project. This is confirmed by the descriptions, x-rays, density and water content, as well as the artifact found in the Dock core. The transition from highly layered, organic rich, dense sediments below about 3 m, to more muddy finely laminated to bioturbated sediments above. There appears to be an erosional unconformity separating the two sediment types (facies), and the nail was found at this boundary. A possible interpretation is that this transition reflects a major change in river siltation caused by early deforestation and agricultural practices. High silt runoff from human activity likely accelerated the input of fines and drastically increased the sedimentation rates in the area. Based on the position of the nail, the estimated accumulation rate for the upper section would be 1.5 cm/year [3 meters = 300 cm over 200 years = 1.5 cm/yr], which is quite a bit higher than would be expected under prehistoric sedimentation equilibrium conditions. It can also be presumed from this artifact that the water depths off the head of the wharves were about 3 m deeper than today. Independent age control (radiometric dating) can validate the dates of the strata (Kuehl 2011:7).

Conclusion and Recommendations
The results from this pilot coring study unambiguously provided a proof of concept relative to our original objectives. Such a marked sediment transition at 3-m depth is a legacy of rapidly changing environmental conditions.  Additional coring to trace the continuity of this surface, combined with acoustic mapping and radiometric dating and collection of additional artifacts is required to positively confirm the age and origin of the pre-19^th century river bottom surface (Kuehl 2011:8).

Works Cited
Kuehl, Steven A.

2011    Shirley Plantation Sediment Coring: Final Report. Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia.

Maritime Archaeology at Shirley Plantation

Maritime Archaeology at Shirley Plantation

What lurks in the river at one of the oldest colonial sites in America

In 2011, Charles Hill Carter III, 11^th generation owner of Shirley Plantation, continues the search for answers on the maritime history of the longest family business in America. Shirley’s land grant dates to 1613, making it the Colony of Virginia’s first plantation, a site dedicated to production of crops or commodities shipped to often-distant markets.

By the 1640s, the Hill family settled at Shirley and was well established in agriculture and shipping.  Seeking to find the 17^th- and 18^th-century wharves and what they might reveal about Shirley’s history, Carter funded an ongoing maritime cultural resource survey.  Its purpose is to determine the extent of the history and archaeological remains along the Shirley Plantation shoreline. The presence and absence of artifacts in a specific area along the shoreline can indicate historic activities or the lack thereof at a specific site.  

Archaeological investigations have focused on the wharf complex north of the Great House and with the help of volunteers have extended to include the entire shoreline of the plantation.  Archaeologist Taft Kiser, geologist Charles “Chee” Saunders of Marshall Miller & Associates, and East Carolina University graduate student in Maritime Archaeology Theresa Hicks have documented surviving pilings and loose frames associated with four remaining wharf structures.  Other preliminary evidence indicates two or more possible earlier dock sites along the shore.

Waterscape development during the colonial period arose from the lack of sufficient and convenient roads. Water transportation such as ferries, canoes, boats, and ships enabled commercial and agricultural industries to develop in the immense river systems of the colonial south.  Rivers provided conduits for early development and prosperity.


Steam Packet at Shirley Wharf in mid 1800s.

 Wharves, jetties, docks, piers, and landing sites transferred cargo, people, and information from land to sea and back again.  Waterfront landings and wharves are interface archaeological sites between rural plantations and the British Atlantic trade network.

Maritime commerce is central to Shirley’s history. Wharves at Shirley Plantation were used for exporting tobacco, corn, and wheat while importing furniture, dishware, clothing, and farm equipment, among many other goods and crops.

Shirley Wharf in late 1800s as seen from
weather deck of departing steamer.

Edward Hill I’s house at Shirley Hundred was designated in 1659 as the location to pay taxes in the form of corn. Edward Hill II collected customs for the Upper James River District from 1699-1702 at the plantation.  Edward Hill III owned sailing vessels that regularly made trips to England with cargos of tobacco in exchange for manufactured goods. He also undertook shipbuilding on the property and maintained a ferry crossing the river from the Shirley dock to Bermuda Hundred.

During Elizabeth Hill Carter and Bowler Cocke’s residence at Shirley, in 1771 a major flood damaged the plantation and surrounding countryside.  A 1771 newspaper account noted the level of maritime commerce when it stated the flood drove the sailing ships at Shirley Plantation from their moorings 3 miles downriver to City Point. Later, during the 1800s, steamboats brought passengers and mail to Shirley Plantation.

      Documentation of pilings at the19th century wharf.

Current maritime archaeology involves a variety of methods.  The investigators use a sub-meter GPS to plot the location of each piling and frame visible above water as well as those hidden below onto an overall site map. The resulting map shows four individual wharf structures running as much as 60 feet into the James River.  Based on wood degradation, it is believed that each structure represents a different time span dating from the late 1700s to the early 1900s.

Mr. Carter and volunteers documenting
Shirley Plantation's shorline.

The shore line survey of artifacts by location involves a "catch and release" collection of finds to analyze occupation and use dates of the riverfront. The goal is to sample enough of the shoreline's historic artifacts to determine whether there are concentrations of 17^th, 18^th, or 19^th century artifacts in proximity to known cultural landscape markers such as wharf sites and outbuildings.

Thus far, investigators and volunteers have surveyed 2000 feet of Shirley’s shoreline.  A previously unknown fifth wharf was revealed near the manor house as well as livestock fence lines running into the river, and, a sixth dock possibly part of the 1742 boat house.

Carter is also teamed with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) of the College of William and Mary to conduct sediment core and side scan sonar studies of the river bottom just off the shore. Initial sediment cores yielded a number of artifacts and indicate silt has been deposited in distinct layers over time.  In one instance, an early 1800s style of nail was discovered 9 feet below the surface of the river bottom, hinting at an incredible siltation rate and deeper water when the docks were in use.

A preliminary side scan sonar survey of the near shore river bottom indicated several submerged features for future investigation.  Sticking up out of the bottom silt are two sunken vessels, remnant pilings, possible dock construction materials and a number of objects that will need to be explored.

Since the first 1613 land grant was issued to Sir Thomas West just six years after the first official English colony, Shirley Plantation’s establishment as a thriving new world economic engine would not have been possible without the role of the James River.  With continued archaeological research of the maritime history in search of wharves and other shoreline structures connected to Shirley Plantation, vital information is being uncovered.  This information will provide a better understanding of the history of commerce, economics, social communications, politics, war, and transportation along the maritime highways of America.