The Day the Johnboat Went up the Mountain: Stories from My Twenty Years in South Carolina Maritime Archaeology

Hobby Divers

116 Hobby Divers Licensed hobby diver Doug Boehme’s artifact reports for the third quarter of 1994 were startling, even amazing. During those three months, he reported finding fifty-three whole projectile points (arrowheads and spear points), twenty-three broken points, thirty-one scrapers, two bannerstones , two drill points, two prismatic blades, and three prehistoric pottery shards, all from one dive spot in the west branch of the Cooper River. Over the next year, Doug found even more prehistoric Native American artifacts, including several bannerstone pieces, two hammer stones, several baked clay objects, a grooved ax, and a couple dozen more points—all in this same spot. Doug is a postal worker who lives with his wife and daughter in Summerville . He became a licensed hobby diver in June 1992 and attended our field training course (FTC) a year later, in June 1993. With his license and the knowledge gained at our FTC, he and his dive partners began exploring the rivers of the South Carolina lowcountry. In the Cooper River, Doug had found a gold mine of stone and pottery artifacts covering all periods of Native American prehistory—too many to be there through the usual haphazard scatter of artifacts along river bottoms. Did these relics of the past indicate a nearby Native American site? A village, perhaps, or a hunting camp? Doug’s artifact reports are required under conditions of his South Carolina hobby diver license. That the information provided us by a sport diver could lead to the discovery of an unknown Native American site is precisely what the South Carolina hobby diver licensing system is all about. Briefly, license divers are allowed to keep the artifacts and fossils they pick up in South Carolina waters in exchange for reporting what they are finding, where they are finding it, and anything of interest they may have noticed in the vicinity. From this information the state learns of new underwater sites. Hobby Divers 117 Back in the early 1960s, as scuba diving was growing into an international leisure activity, South Carolina was one place where the new sport blossomed. This is because scuba divers are not only an adventurous bunch; they are also sentimental. In addition to exploring the underwater world, they like taking home souvenirs from the sites they visit. What better way to remember a great day of diving on a shipwreck than with some small keepsake as a reminder of the experience? Moreover South Carolina waters abound in keepsakes. The early sport divers found the coastal waters littered with the remains of lost vessels, especially Civil War blockade runners. From these they were stuffing their goody bags with items from long-lost cargoes, items the sailors of these vessels risked and sometimes lost their lives attempting to bring into Charleston. These cargoes, for the most part, consisted of the three m’s: merchandise, munitions, and medicines. This included crates of dinnerware; mountains of small arms projectiles; armies of medicine bottles, wine bottles, lamp oil bottles, foodstuff bottles , and baby bottles; stoneware jugs of household commodities; and a variety of other objects the enthusiastic divers showed off with great pride, no doubt impressing their friends and boring their families. It was not long, however, before the divers were taking home slightly larger souvenirs, such as artillery shells and cannons. At the same time, divers began braving the alligators and snakes of lowcountry rivers to pursue their new sport. Here they were finding Just a few of the projectile points found by licensed hobby diver Doug Boehme in the Cooper River. Photograph courtesy Doug Boehme 118 The Day the Johnboat Went up the Mountain fossilized animal remains of all sorts: whale inner ear bones, horse teeth, mastodon ribs, sloth claws, fish vertebra, mammoth molars, and shark’s teeth—especially shark’s teeth. These they were collecting by the bucketful . They were selling them to museums, placing them in display cases, putting them into glass lamps, and making them into mobiles. They were also finding significant cultural remains. They were gathering prehistoric artifacts, including ornately decorated Native American pottery, lethal stone axes, and finely made projectile points. They were finding historic artifacts as well, including creamware, pearlware, and porcelain dinnerware, clay tobacco pipes, pewter mugs, and stoneware jugs, plus coins of shiny silver and sparkling gold, not to mention bottles, buckles, and buttons of old. Again it was not long before divers were...