Conference Agenda

Last year, a project was undertaken to determine the best option for treating a bronze cannon on display at the Alamo. The cannon was conserved by the Conservation Research Laboratory, but post-conservation it began precipitating a white powder determined to be a mixture of sodium carbonate-based compounds. The problems have persisted despite retreatment, and some green corrosion products have also begun to form. Experiments were conducted to determine which treatments might be effective in reducing precipitation and preventing future problems, and this year we have begun the topical application of dilute formic acid to the cannon. This presentation reports on the practical use and results of such methods to address artifacts showing similar issues.

In the past decade, digital recording methods such as photogrammetry and LiDAR have been increasingly applied to the field of maritime and nautical archaeology. However, as new digital tools become more prevalent in these disciplines, traditional research methods are being used less frequently. The question arises: 'Do new tools degrade maritime archaeology or enhance it?' The author discusses the advantages and disadvantages of using new digital tools, providing examples. Finally, he proposes a hybrid approach that combines new and traditional recording and research methodologies for the coming decades.

Underwater archaeological surveys were conducted for the environmental studies prior to the Port of Montreal - Contrecoeur Terminal expansion project, located on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River near the municipality of Contrecoeur, in Montérégie, Québec, Canada. The operations included remote sensing, the discovery of an historical shipwreck, the preliminary recording of the wreck in SCUBA diving, its removal from the seabed using surface supply diving due to the nature of upcoming dredging work in the area that would result in the destruction of the site, the storing, and finally the re-immersion at Flintkote quarry in Thetford Mines, QC, to ensure its long-term preservation. Raising a complete shipwreck, and re-immersing it for long-term conservation is an operation that has never before been carried out in Canada, and creating an accessible heritage diving site is an innovative first for Quebec in the protection, and enhancement of underwater cultural resources.

The conservation of modern materials is an ongoing issue within the field of archaeology. Despite rubber being used in everyday life, no standardized conservation treatment has been established for this type of archaeological material. This is partly due to the complexity of rubber which undergoes extensive processing that incorporates a variety of additives to enhance certain qualities. These additives create a compositional change affecting how the rubber degrades over time. This presents a challenge when developing treatment plans for rubber artifacts because known treatments for other organics will not necessarily prove effective on manufactured rubber. Waterlogged rubber gaskets from CSS Georgia (1862-1864) will undergo numerous analytical tests to understand their overall composition before conducting a series of experimental conservation methods. The experiments will be evaluated based on their effectiveness in removing iron corrosion, maintaining material flexibility, and preventing delamination and stress cracks on the artifacts.

To 'preserve the past for the future,' it is necessary to examine the preservation methods employed on artifacts in collections as well as the methods used to excavate archaeological sites. Investigations at Fort St. Joseph, an eighteenth-century mission, garrison, and trading post, have led to the recovery of more than 325,000 artifacts over the past twenty-five years, providing insights on the Fur Trade and colonial interactions occurring in the western Great Lakes region. Situated along the banks of the St. Joseph River, the fort site requires the use of a dewatering system to conduct archaeological work due to the installation of twentieth-century dams that have left the area inundated. As the water table is continuously altered and lowered during the field season, it is important to consider the impacts that this process has on the material remains waiting to be unearthed.

Twenty cannon (intact and partial) were recovered from the Savannah River, Georgia, in 2021. It had been assumed that these cannon were from scuttled British ships during the American Revolutionary War in 1779. Seventeen of these cannon were later transported to the Conservation Research Lab (CRL) at Texas A&M University where they are being conserved and analyzed. Several cannon have completed the conservation treatment process. The timeline of events and methods, including before and after characteristics, will be discussed in this paper. In addition, there are four distinct cannon styles present. Two styles are British mid 18th-century cannon, while the remaining two styles, and majority of the cannon, are not British in origin. Providing an update from the 2024 SHA presentation, this paper will discuss the differences in cannon styles present and provide a working theory on these uniquely manufactured cannon.

The Warren Lasch Conservation Center in Charleston, South Carolina serves as the repository for the H.L. Hunley submarine (1864) currently undergoing conservation and documentation. Raised from the ocean in 2000 and largely excavated by 2006, the submarine is historically significant as the first to successfully sink an enemy ship in battle. Over 3000 objects have been recovered from the vessel, including personal artifacts of the eight crewmembers and machinery components in various states of degradation. For the past two decades, the wrought and cast-iron hull has gone through several phases of conservation such as rotation to an upright position, desalination, and deconcretion. As we move toward 25 years of work, the team is finalizing the last phase of the hull conservation. This paper will describe the work being conducted over the years and the current state of this very important icon in maritime history.