Abstract
In 1996, the remains of a small wooden boat were discovered on the border of the Apalachicola National Forest in the Florida Panhandle, and were identified as a rare example of historic vernacular watercraft. The vessel was donated to the US Forest Service, and conserved by the State of Florida Research and Conservation Laboratory. Archaeological analysis of the vessel included recording of timbers and taking of lines, but expanded to included reconstruction of the preserved timbers for permanent display using a custom framing system designed to support the vessel in perpetuity. The vessel displayed characteristics commonly seen in punts, scows, and flatboats, which were common in the colonial and territorial periods. Despite similarities to other vessels seen along waterfronts and rivers, marshes and creeks along the Atlantic coast, the Larkin Boat, as it was called, is unique to Florida.
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Acknowledgments
My warmest thanks goes out to US Forest Service archaeologist Dr. Andrea Repp, who was a pleasure to work for, and without whom this unique historical watercraft would still be in pieces, or even lost entirely. Her support for this project was enthusiastic and greatly appreciated. I must also thank Rhonda Kimbrough and all of the other Forest Service staff members who I greatly enjoyed working with, and who helped with various aspects of the recording, reassembly, and transportation of the Larkin Vessel. Mitchell Larkin himself, though I never had a chance to meet him, deserves our gratitude for realizing that this wooden boat was precious and worthy of saving, and for being willing to donate it to the Forest Service with no strings attached. Thanks to my cousin Nik Hartney for his engineering expertise and to the joint FSU and Florida A&M University engineering program for the use of their shop and equipment. Much appreciation goes to Amy Mitchell-Cook for agreeing to conduct the analysis of wood samples from the boat, and to Dr. Cheryl Ward, formerly at FSU, for her initial offer to do so. Thank you to the former conservators at the Florida Bureau of Archaeological Research, Jamie Levy and Claire Tindal, for providing information related to the conservation of the boat. LAMP archaeologist Brian McNamara assisted by scanning numerous drawings so that they could be digitized, which was skillfully accomplished by LAMP volunteer Tim Jackson. LAMP archaeologist Brendan Burke also provided assistance for this publication, by producing the location maps and by lending insight into tool marks and wooden boat construction. Thank you to my family, Brenna Ryan and the Buds, for their patience with me when I spend hours writing. Finally, I must sincerely thank my friend and colleague Amanda Evans, the editor of this volume, for her years of assistance with my first submission to this volume, which was eventually deemed not to fit geographically with the rest of the book, and for her encouragement both to publish that piece elsewhere and to continue my longstanding participation with this book by submitting the present work. It has been many years since our symposium on the archaeology of vernacular watercraft, but thanks to your hard work this book is surely worth the wait.
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Meide, C. (2016). Some Assembly Required: The Analysis and Reassembly of the Larkin Boat, a Vernacular Watercraft Recovered from Gregory Mill Creek in Liberty County, Florida. In: Evans, A. (eds) The Archaeology of Vernacular Watercraft. When the Land Meets the Sea. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3563-5_6
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