Document Type
Paper
Abstract
A proposed recreational and environment and historical interpretive park has been planned by the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism (PRT) jointly with the Santee Cooper Public Service Authority for the land along the west side of the Tailrace Canal extending between US Route 52 and Stoney Landing in Berkeley County, South Carolina. The Santee Canal Sanctuary, as it has been named, encompasses the southernmost ca. 2.0km (1.25mi) of the abandoned Santee Canal and Biggin Creek which essentially bisect the property longitudinally.
Development of the park and related construction activities dictated that archaeological investigations be executed. A terrestrial archaeological survey was conducted in August 1986 and the results published the following year in a thorough report produced by Tommy Charles and James O. Mills (1987) of the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology (SCIAA). Dredging operations planned for that portion of the Santee Canal on sanctuary property necessitated a comprehensive archaeological survey within this structure. The entire 32.6km (20.4mi) length of the Santee Canal was placed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in May 1982 and is listed in the State of South Carolina Site Files as 38BKI02. In addition, two areas of Biggin Creek were singled out for investigation: the remains of an apparently ship-built vessel (38BK877) eligible for inclusion on the NRHP; and an area of scattered artifacts associated with a domestic site (38BK876) at Stoney Landing.
PRT and Santee Cooper contracted with SCIAA's Underwater Antiquities Management Program to perform this survey. The archaeological survey conducted as a result of this contract was performed over a 20-day period during November and December 1987.
Publication Info
1989.
© 1989 by The South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology