THE OCONEE RIVER FLATBOAT: AN ANALYSIS THROUGH EXPERIMENTAL ARCHAEOLOGY

Abstract

In April 2019, a recreational fisherman found an unusual timber in the Oconee River of middle Georgia. This timber was later identified as a chine-girder, a large structural piece of a flatboat that would have been used in colonial Georgia. Vessels like this are rare and this timber allowed researchers to examine the vernacular construction of a flatboat type only previously documented in the Low Country of South Carolina. Using data gathered from fieldwork and historical evidence, several 3D models and a physical scale model were created to analyze the construction of this vessel. This study demonstrates that experimental archaeology can be used to identify construction techniques used by original boat builders.