Years ago, few people understood the value of the submerged cultural
resources beneath the waters of the Chesapeake region. Recently, the
search for the region's underwater heritage has been validated and
initiated an intensified attempt to study and preserve the priceless
resources in the waters of the bay and its tributaries. Tidewater Time
Capsule presents a fascinating account of one underwater archaeological
endeavor in which Donald G. Shomette was intimately involved: the
underwater survey of the Patuxent River, and, in particular, the search
for Commodore Joshua Barney's Chesapeake Flotilla, which was lost
beneath the river's waters following a battle with the British during
the War of 1812. The author skillfully sets the historical scene, and
then proceeds to a first-person, on-the-site narrative of the
investigative events as they happened. The Patuxent Project was the
first underwater archaeological survey of an entire river system. In
this multiphase investigation, archaeologists sought such diverse
resources as inundated aboriginal and historic sites, harbor facilities,
military establishments, battle sites, shipwrecks, and, in particular,
the final resting place of Joshua Barney's famed Chesapeake Flotilla
from the War of 1812.
