Franklin Price

My first experience in maritime archaeology was an IMH project in 2002 assisting with a survey of Cape Porpoise, Maine. Since then I have become involved in maritime projects with federal, state, local, and non-profit agencies as well as cultural resource management firms. One of the more unexpected things I have learned in the past few years is the incredible amount of information maritime communities know about their own history and archaeology. Often each individual is aware of a small part of the overall picture, but interviews of a large number of individuals can yield a substantial amount of information about an area. An ongoing interview project conducted with IMH is uncovering a wealth of knowledge about the maritime heritage of the Maine coast, some of which has been part of the focus of a NOAA Ocean Exploration project, the Blue Hill Bay Submerged Prehistoric Landscape Survey.

Areas of Expertise

  • Maritime archaeology, including survey, excavation, and artifact recovery of shipwrecks and submerged prehistoric cultural material
  • Distribution patterns of shipwrecks and abandoned vessels
  • Teaching in American history and world civilizations
  • Excavation, recovery, and conservation of micro-artifacts

Current Positions

  • Senior Archaeologist, Florida Division of Archaeological Resources, Bureau of Archaeological Resources, Tallahassee, FL

Current Projects

  • Downeast Fishermen Interview Survey, IMH, 2006-2009
  • Blue Hill Bay Submerged Prehistoric Landscape Survey, NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration, 2007-2009

Education

  • M.A., Maritime Studies, East Carolina University, 2006, “Conflict and Commerce: Archaeological Site Distribution as Cultural Change on the Roanoke River, NC”
  • B.A., History, Earlham College, 1994

IMH Projects

  • Downeast Fishermen Interview Survey, Bass Harbor, Maine, 2006-2009
  • Inter-tidal Archaeological Resources Survey in Cape Porpoise, Maine, 2002

Selected Publications

  • PRICE, F.H., and N. RICHARDS (2009) Conflict and Commerce, Historical Archaeology (In Press).
  • PRICE, F.H. (2008) Mysteries from the Sediment: The Micro-Archaeology of an 18th century Shipwreck. 65th Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Archaeological Conference, Charlotte, NC
  • PRICE, F.H. and A. SPIESS (2007) A New Submerged Prehistoric Site and other Fishermen’s Finds Near Mount Desert Island, Maine Archaeological Bulletin, pp. 21-35.
  • RODGERS, B.A., N. RICHARDS, F.H. PRICE, B. CLAYTON, D. PIETRUSZKA, H. WHITE, and S. WILLIAMS (2006) The Castle Island Ships’ Graveyard: The History and Archaeology of Eleven Wrecked and Abandoned Watercraft. Research Report No. 15. East Carolina University, Greenville, NC
  • CONLIN, D., K. HENAKI, and F.H. PRICE (2005) Gateway National Recreation Area: Pre-Construction Clearance, S.R.C. Technical Report No. 20. National Park Service, Submerged Resources Center, Santa Fe, NM
  • PRICE, F.H. and A. SPIESS (2008) Fresh from the Sea: The Recovery of Prehistoric Artifacts by Maine Fishermen. 73rd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
  • PRICE, F.H. (2008) Submerged Downeast, Preliminary Results of the Downeast Maritime Interview Survey. Society for Historical Archaeology 41st Annual Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology, Albuquerque, NM.