Queen Anne's Revenge
Queen Anne's Revenge
Conservation Laboratory Report, April 2009 UAB Conservation Laboratory, Greenville Sarah Watkins-Kenny, QAR Project Conservator Wendy Welsh, QAR Assistant Conservator
Shanna Daniel, QAR Assistant Conservator
Following the excitement and publicity of recovery of artifacts from site, it is all too easy for it to seem that artifacts sink again, without trace, when conservation begins. Despite the impression that television may give, conservation of waterlogged archaeological material takes time, especially with limited resources, as well as equipment and expertise. Our conservation reports are one of the ways we keep the public informed of what's going on in the lab. Since our last conservation report in July 2008, we have made good progress on a number of fronts. The 2008 field season was a success, which saw the beginning of a long term project to investigate the corrosion status of an anchor still on the site, and ended with the recovery of our 12th cannon, Cannon 18 (C18). The frames from the wooden hull structure are moving along in the conservation process and we are implementing a new treatment to prevent bacterial/fungi growth on our sternpost. Artifacts have been transferred to the NC Maritime Museum as well as the Museum of History and we will give a brief overview of what you might expect to see on display.
QAR Lab Crew
We were pleased when in September 2008, three of our contract staff from 2007-2008, rejoined the QAR Lab Crew until May 2009; Franklin Price, Myron Rolston, & Jon Schleier were all featured in our last conservation report. Our newest crew member is Lauren McMillan, a first year ECU Anthropology Masters student. She also began working at the lab as a Graduate Assistant in September 2008. Valerie Grussing, who worked with us last year as an illustrator, briefly returned to the lab in September to complete the illustration of the seat of ease before it was transferred to the museum. Valerie decided to leave the lab to focus on her doctoral studies at ECU's Program in the Coastal Resource Management. Her illustrations have been of great value and we wish her well in all her endeavors. We also very much appreciate contributions to the conservation effort from our volunteer helpers. In July we were assisted by Laura Brown and Peter Campbell. Laura, a junior in high school, joined us for work experience before going on to the NC School of Math and Science in Raleigh. Jessica Smeeks has just started volunteering with us. Peter and Jessica are both Master's graduate students in East Carolina University's Program in Maritime Studies. Lerae Umfleet, NCDCR Chief of Collections Management, has also spent some of
her time at the lab updating our database and assisting Myron with lead shot processing (see below). Cleaning Lead Artifacts Most recently Jon has been cleaning concretion from lead artifacts such as strips and bilge strainers. He has used a variety of techniques to clean up the lead strips including various sizes of air scribes and acidic poultices, taking great care to leave the hair encountered on the strips in place for future interpretation. Seeing how Jon is very familiar with the lead strips he has been set the task of creating a documentation template for recording the different features on the lead strips, determining which characteristics are recorded and how. Lead Shot Processing We have recovered a considerable amount of lead shot since we last reported the totals in our Jan/Feb 2006 report. The 2006 & 2007 field seasons resulted in the recovery of the majority of the lead shot from the stern area of the vessel which brings our total to more than 225,000 individual pieces. In our last conservation report, we mentioned that Myron is overseeing the processing of the large volume of lead shot, which involves separating the different styles by method of manufacture, Rupert shot and those cast in two-part molds. Myron has researched other projects such as Whydah and La Belle to see what level of recording they do on their large volume of lead shot recovered. He has come to the conclusion that everyone is doing something different and there is no standard in measuring lead shot. Recently, UAB archaeologist Nathan Henry and project director Dr. Mark Wilde-Ramsing came up to discuss the method we will use to analyze our 225,000 lead shot. The decision was made to keep all the Rupert style lead shot together since they have proven to be a consistent group. The next step is to separate the twopart molded lead shot into two groups, shot that has a diameter of 0.32" or smaller and all shot larger than 0.32". The shot larger than 0.32" will all be analyzed individually by weight and any deformities will be noted. Distinguishing the difference between manufacturing deformities and site formation deformities will be left to the collaboration between Myron and Nathan. Myron has almost completed the recording process, which will contribute greatly in the final analysis of all QAR lead shot.
2008 Fall Field Season—Preparations at the Lab One of the first tasks for the lab crew in September was to get ready to receive artifacts newly recovered from site. The main challenge each year at this time is to make sure enough tanks are at hand to keep incoming artifacts in wet storage. Before the 2008 field season began, Franklin was available to help Myron, Jon and Lauren at the lab set up a carport provided by ECU to make additional space available for artifact storage. Our 4000 square foot warehouse lab storage area is now almost full. Myron and Jon were instrumental in completing the task of making artifact storage tanks water tight and safe for storage. Project director Dr. Mark Wilde-Ramsing acquired additional storage tanks from Harlan Summers, owner of the Royal Forge and Trading Company located in Aurora, North Carolina. They provided additional storage for artifacts recovered from the 2008 field season. As luck would have it, Ed Talley of MVS Military Vehicle Equipment, learned of our needs and has donated an additional 16 tanks to the project. These tanks have held up great for us and we are thankful to Mr. Summers and Mr. Talley for their contributions. As excavations began, Lauren and Jon helped with processing the 2008 artifacts, making sure they were stored properly and inventoried. They spent many hours doing data entry and completed all the new records for this year's artifacts (c.700) by Christmas. After field season, Franklin returned to the lab to carry on with the micro archaeology of the sluice sediment. He continues to extract glass beads, gold grains, lead shot/fragments, copper alloy straight pins, bone and the most frustrating, mercury. Mercury is difficult to remove from the sediment because it has to be done under the microscope to separate the sand grains from the small globules of mercury, down to 1/10mm. Mercury will also adhere to the surface of gold grains if it comes in contact with the gold. The mercury cannot be easily separated from the gold therefore discoloring & contaminating the gold grains. Franklin will elaborate fully on the different artifacts removed during sediment processing in his upcoming article about micro archaeology.
X-radiography of Interesting Artifacts from 2008 Field Season Now that we have an x-ray system at the lab, information on newly recovered artifacts of particular interest to the archaeologists can be quickly ascertained. For example, a sword guard and a possible coin; two types of objects not previously found on the site were x-rayed within a couple of days of their recovery from the site. The sword guard (QAR3082.000) was found in unit 203 on the east side of the main ballast pile next to the north-south baseline. At first glance you can tell the sword guard is copper alloy with a missing iron blade and handle that may have been wooden. Once the artifact was x-rayed we could tell that the guard was solid and had a hole in one of the quillions. This hole would have served as a way to attach a chain to the guard that would have attached to the end of the pommel. Although still not conserved, this object is now on display at the Museum of History in Raleigh (see below). There is always something interesting recovered from the last unit excavated in a field season and this season was no different. A possible coin (QAR3233.001) was found in the sluice box from the sediment of unit 207. Even though the coin is completely covered in concretion it appears to be made of silver. If this object truly is a coin then this would be the first recovered from the site; a copper alloy coin weight with the bust of Queen Anne was recovered in 2007. Xradiography of the object revealed what is
possibly a coin in the concretion, however, the observer must keep in mind that one is looking at both sides of a coin at one time in an x-ray image. Once the type of metal is confirmed conservators will begin treatment. Another exciting `x-ray moment' was during the filming of an x-radiography session by the crew of Quickfire Media for a documentary titled, Blackbeard's Lost Ship. Conservators revealed our second serpentine sideplate that appears to be attached to a gunstock. This concretion (QAR3111.000) was recovered from unit 204 and has a large ballast stone attached to the outside of the concretion. The first serpentine sideplate (QAR366.010) was recovered from the concretion around Cannon 4 (C4). A sideplate acted as a washer for the threaded screws that anchored the gunlock into place on the gun's stock. The serpentine sideplate, so-called due to the engraving resembling a serpent or snake, was used throughout the colonial period and commonly used on trading guns. Blackbeard's Lost Ship will be on PBS April 22nd, 2009 at 8:00pm. We have also made some progress with x-radiography of concretions recovered in 2007. Lauren has been tasked with identifying artifacts in x-ray films and in doing so has brought the inventory of our x-ray films up-to-date. 2008 Fall Field Season-In Situ Monitoring/Conservation Last fall (Field Log October 6-10, 2008) conservators and archaeologists decided to start an in situ monitoring project on the north anchor, A3. This project draws upon research done mainly in Australia over the last 20 years by researchers such as Ian MacLeod who have demonstrated that measuring the corrosion potential and the surface pH of an iron artifact can give an indication of its inherent stability when referenced in a Pourbaix diagram. MacLeod has also proven that attaching a sacrificial anode to iron artifacts in situ will improve the corrosion potential and start the conservation treatment of removing chloride ions (salts) (MacLeod, 1996). The surface pH and corrosion potential was measured on A3 and a sacrificial aluminum
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anode was attached to the anchor. Below is a brief background and description of how we carried out this process. This project is ongoing so a more formal report will be posted once there is enough data to analyze and draw conclusions. Iron is the most prevalent metal on the QAR site, from cast iron cannon and wrought iron anchors to a multitude of wrought iron fasteners and cask hoops. The presence of iron in salt water creates a galvanic cell and the seawater acts as an electrolyte, increasing the rate of corrosion. A calcium carbonate layer begins to form on the surface made up of sand, shell and sea life, encrusting the entire iron artifact as well as adhering to anything around it. The encrustation grows over time and becomes very solid resembling concrete, referred to as concretion. Even though concretion is very solid, it is a semi-permeable membrane, and there is still an exchange of ions going on between the metal and the seawater. The presence of concretion has actually preserved the iron artifacts; however, it also increases the concentration of chloride and hydrogen ions at the iron surface. According to MacLeod, the pH beneath the concretion at the surface of the metal is acidic (4-5); while outside the concretion in seawater the pH is neutral to basic (7-8) (MacLeod, 1996). The corrosion of metal is an electrochemical process and the rate of decay is sensitive to temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, marine life and water movement. An artifact that stands proud on the ocean floor will have a higher corrosion potential than an artifact that is buried in the sediment; the lower the corrosion potential the less the artifact will corrode. To test the corrosion potential, the voltage of the iron object must be measured with an inert platinum electrode in relation to a silver-silver chloride (Ag/AgCl) reference electrode, indicating the difference in potential between the reference electrode and the object. Obtaining these measurements over a period of time can reflect the stability of the object. A3 was chosen to monitor because this artifact has one half buried deep in the sand and the other half protrudes about 6 feet above the ocean floor where it is always exposed to harsher conditions. The test site was chosen at the crown of the anchor, which is about 2 feet from the seabed. A sample of the marine life was taken from the anchor for analysis because different types of organisms can promote corrosion even further if they are boring organisms. The analytical equipment, both pH and voltage meter were left topside and operated by a team of two who were in constant contact with the divers. The voltage meter was connected to a laptop that constantly logged data while another person scribed the pH Image Not Available readings. The platinum and reference electrodes have 60' wires that run from the boat to the anchor. Unfortunately, suppliers do not sell pH electrodes with 60' of cable so the task of extending the cable and making the connection waterproof was complicated but Capt. Stacie Davis of the Institute of Marine Sciences made it possible. A pneumatic drill on a 50' hose attached to the compressor topside was used to drill into the concretion. These instruments were
deployed and attached to the tool stand to keep all the wires and hoses in order. Once all the tools and divers were in place the next step was to drill in to the concretion. A ½" mason bit was used so the pH electrode could fit into the hole close to the metal surface. Divers drilled into the concretion until solid metal was reached; the thickness of concretion was noted with a small ruler. The flat surface pH electrode was used to obtain the pH reading at the surface. The voltage was then obtained with the platinum electrode with the Ag/AgCl reference electrode adjacent to the test site. The voltage reading was held on the metal surface for 2 minutes to get a stable reading. After obtaining the corrosion potential and pH readings the next objective was to attach a sacrificial aluminum anode to the anchor in hopes of lowering the corrosion potential and initiating the conservation process of driving out chlorides (salts). It is the same concept as attaching sacrificial anodes to metal hulled boats or boat motors. A zinc or magnesium anode is attached to a vessel or motor so the anode will corrode instead of the hull or motor. According to MacLeod, once you hook up a sacrificial anode to an iron object in seawater the chlorides begin to diffuse away from the degraded surface and the pH increases, which will enhance the mechanical strength of concretion and protect the object better. It has been reported that objects to undergo this type of treatment have decreased in corrosion rates Image Not Available and when recovered the conservation time was reduced. These objects also appear to have more original surfaces compared to similar objects that have not undergone the treatment. (MacLeod, 1996)
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The aluminum anode was placed on a PVC frame and buried so the aluminum was just above the sea floor. A copper wire was used to attach the anode to the anchor. A band clamp was used to attach the wire to the aluminum anode. A larger band clamp was modified by attaching an adjustable screw, which connected the wire to the anchor. Once the band clamp was in place a sealant that cures underwater was put on the anchor in the newly exposed area. The anchor and anode were observed throughout the field season and the setup seemed to be holding up well. The first test was when a large storm came through the area. Once the storm passed we checked on the anchor setup and the connection to the anchor was still solid, however, the sacrificial anode had tumbled 7' to the north and west. The anode frame had flipped over and was a bit deeper than originally buried, luckily extra wire was attached to the frame in case an instance like that happened. The wire was still secure to both anchor and anode.
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There are many uses to in situ monitoring and the information this study could provide will be useful to both conservators and archaeologists. This is a long-term project and if respectable results come from A3, there is a possibility other anchors and cannon will be monitored on the site as well. If the sacrificial anode proves to work then this would mean we could actually start the conservation process of cannon and anchors on the site before they are recovered which will shorten the conservation time in the lab and possibly preserve more of the original surfaces.
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*MacLeod, Ian Donald. 1996. In Situ Conservation of Cannon and Anchor on Shipwreck Sites. Ashok Roy & Perry Smith, Ed., Preprints of the Contributions to the Copenhagen Congress, 26-30 August 1996. Archaeological Conservation and Its Consequences, pp. 111-115. Bacteria/Fungi on the Sternpost: A Growing Concern Bacteria and fungi have been a growing concern at the lab, especially on larger waterlogged wooden artifacts, such as the sternpost recovered during the 2007 fall field season. This composite structure we refer to as the sternpost is a 6-foot fragment of the ship's sternpost and its associated curved knee that served to connect the post to the keel. Other structural elements attached to the piece include fragments of both white oak bottom planks and sacrificial pine planking designed to prevent wood boring organisms from penetrating into the primary hull. Also present is the heavily concreted lower wrought iron gudgeon that would have connected and hinged the vessel's rudder onto
the back of the sternpost, a sheet of lead wrapped around the bottom of the sternpost that could have functioned to prevent chaffing, as well as tar/pitch and hair that was used as caulking. This composite artifact will be very challenging to conserve and the growth of bacteria/fungi growth may be just the start of our troubles, but the archaeological information this structure provides is invaluable.
QAR archaeologist, David D. Moore, describes the sternpost as undoubtedly the most significant
section of the remaining hull structure recovered to date, however the most interesting feature would have to be the Roman numeral "VI" carved into the upper part of the post indicating the height above the bottom of the now missing keel. These numbers would have extended up the sternpost well above the waterline to indicate the draught of the vessel (i.e. how deep she sat in the water), allowing the crew to adjust the trim of the ship as well as revealing the depth of water the ship could sail in before running aground. At least two features on the sternpost assembly, including the distance between the visible draught marks, suggest a design and construction in France, supporting the probability that this ship was the French slaver Concorde, hence Blackbeard's flagship Queen Anne's Revenge. Until this year, our strategy to control fungal growth in the wood conservation tanks was through regularly changing the water. However, even with this approach, fungi were still growing in the tanks and with the recovery of the sternpost it was decided to investigate the possibility of using a biocide/fungicide. After a literature review, a couple of products seemed promising, one of which was Kathon CG. However when we tried to purchase it from Rohm & Haas we were told that due to regulations proscribing the use of this product, it was unavailable to us. We then began the process of trying to identify a biocide that would be commercially available and yet meet conservation requirements. Our investigations led us to a product similar to Kathon but with a benzyl group attached rather than chlorine, known as Proxel, manufactured by the Arch Chemical Inc. Arch Chemical's Tech Department very graciously helped us decide on Proxel BD20, as it most closely met our specifications of use. Jim Loricchio, Arch Chemicals Inc. Account Manager was instrumental in providing the Proxel BD20 we needed to begin experimental testing. The testing consisted of using Proxel BD20 in various solutions under environmental conditions ideal for growing bacteria or fungi. The experiment contained two controls and two test samples with Proxel BD20 for each solution tested. Weight, solution color, and visual appearance, such as presence or absence of growth, were monitored weekly over eight weeks. The results from our tests indicated that Proxel BD20 could be effective in controlling the growth of bacteria and fungi in our large wood storage tanks. Proxel BD20 breaks down naturally in 9 months and is then safe to dispose of as water. Having gained permission for its use from ECU Environmental Health & Safety, we have just begun full scale use of Proxel BD20 for the sternpost tank and will be monitoring it over the next few months.
QAR Wooden Frames—Moving Forward Conserving waterlogged archaeological wood consists of removing water from the artifact until it reaches a dry state. The main concern is that water acts as a bulking agent, which physically supports the cellular structure and prevents wood from collapsing while it is wet. To prevent damage on drying, such as shrinkage and distortion, the water must be slowly replaced by another bulking agent. In 2004 (March 2004 Report) (Watkins-Kenney, et al 2005) it was decided to use a bulking agent known as polyethylene glycol wax (PEG). One of the most successful treatments of wood has involved a two-stage treatment that uses a low molecular weight PEG 400 followed by a higher molecular weight PEG 4000. This two-stage treatment is particularly good for treating waterlogged oak, which typically has a degraded outer layer and less degraded core. The low molecular weight PEG 400 penetrates readily into the smaller cellular spaces of the less degraded wood and that it may chemically bond to the wood structure replacing chemically bound water. The wood is then soaked in a solution of PEG 4000, increasing the concentration until reaching a level where it can finally move to the freeze-drying stage or be removed from the PEG 4000 solution to air dry. Thus, the PEG 4000 acts as a bulking agent, replacing the water in the cell voids. The process may seem quite simple in theory, but it can take many months to years to achieve the final end product. In November of 2005, the QAR frames were placed in a 5% v/v solution of PEG 400 in water. The percentage of PEG 400 was slowly increased until it reached a concentration of 20% v/v solution of PEG 400. It was decided to move forward with the conservation process to the second part, immersing the frames in the higher molecular weight PEG 4000. In September 2008, the QAR frames were placed in a 5% w/v solution of PEG 4000. The percentage of PEG 4000 will slowly increase over several months until it reaches a concentration of 23% PEG 4000. Afterwards, it will be ready for the freeze-drying stage of conserving wood. The progress of the QAR frames will be reported on in future reports. For more information on the conservation of wood artifacts contact Shanna Daniel at [email protected].
*Watkins-Kenney, S. Eric Nordgren, Wendy Welsh and Nathan Henry. 2005. The Queen
Anne's Revenge Shipwreck Project: Recovery, Examination and Treatment of Wood. In Hoffman et al (editors), Proceedings of the 9th ICOM Group on Wet Organic Archaeological Materials Conference. ICOM-CC, Bremerhaven. Pg389-402).
Set of Nesting Weights and the fleur-de-lis Symbol During the 2007 field season a set of seven nesting weights (QAR2590.000) was recovered from the aft section of the site. For more than 2,000 years nested weights have been important in commerce, and were made in vastly different sizes. (Kisch, 1965) Nesting weight sets were commonly used for a variety of weighing tasks, such as weighing out medicines or precious metals. These sets consist of a series of graduated, cup-shaped weights that fit into one another. The largest or 'master' cup usually had a hinged lid that enclosed the full set of nesting weights. Our set is not complete because we do not have a lid or the smallest weight, a disk that would have fit into the smallest cup. The weight of the largest cup is equal to the sum of the weights of all the smaller cups. The weighing system continues, as each weight is equal to all the smaller preceding weights down to the disk. (Kisch, 1965) Five weights have been removed from the set of seven and the first two weights (QAR2590.001 & QAR2590.002) did not possess any markings. In February, the third weight (QAR2590.003) was removed from the set and a fleur de lis symbol was identified in the bottom of the inside of the weight. The first three weights were relatively easy to remove from the set by cleaning corrosion from inbetween the weights while in an acidic treatment. Being able to manually reach the corrosion between the remaining weights became impractical so the rest of the weights were separated with the help of electrolytic reduction. Once the third weight was removed another interesting marking in the next cup (QAR2590.004) was revealed. The mark in the fourth weight looked like an arrow with decorative flare on the sides. Unsure of the meaning of the marking in QAR2590.004, it made more sense once the weight was removed from the set and the markings in the fifth cup (QAR2590.005) were exposed. QAR2590.005 has two fleur de lis symbols, one on its own and another that appears to have the number "2" stamped over it. After seeing the marking in QAR2590.005, the marking in QAR2590.004 appeared to be a stylized arrow, possibly representing a "1" stamped over a fleur de lis symbol. You can clearly see the bottom of the fleur de lis on the right side of the "1" and a portion of the fleur de lis on the left side of the "1".
From the sixteenth to the eighteenth century, Nuremburg, Germany practically held a monopoly on the production of nested weights. The weights were exported and adjusted to the local weight standard of the country to which they were sent (Deagan, 1987). Every weight removed from the QAR2590.000 set has file marks on the outside bottom of each weight. Perhaps these file marks are evidence of the adjustments made to the original weights to fit a particular system. Once all of the weights from the set are conserved we will attempt to figure out which weight system our weights follow.
Even though there is a great deal of literature about nesting weights, we have recently found examples with markings similar to our weights from a 1747 British warship, Maidstone that was lost off the coast of Noirmoutier, France. Fortunately the example from the Maidstone has all the weights to the set. The illustration shows numbers marked in the base of the nesting weights that correspond with the numbers marked in our set; 1, 2, 4, 8 (de Maisonneuve, 1991). QAR2590.004 would actually be the fifth weight in an intact set and the fifth weight in the set from Maidstone possesses the stylized "1" that looks like an arrow. It is important to mention that there are no fleur de lis markings in the base of the weights from theMaidstone. Once QAR2590.005 was removed from the set, markings in the bottom of QAR2590.006 were exposed and are similar to the markings in QAR2590.005. There are two fleur de lis symbols in the base of QAR2590.006, one off to the side and the other has a "4" stamped over it. QAR2590.006 is still attached to the outermost weight (QAR2590.007); however the numbers from our set follow the pattern of the weights from the Maidstone so we are expecting to see an "8" in the bottom of the master cup. With any luck, the "8" will be accompanied by a mark from the adjuster who filed the weights. These nesting weights are the first artifacts we have recovered from the site that have possessed fleur de lis symbols. The fleur de lis or "flower of the lily" symbol has many meanings and has been used by many countries such as France, England, Portugal and Spain. The simple presence of the fleur de lis symbol does not make it possible for us to pinpoint the origin of our set, however when we figure out
the weighing system and if there is an adjuster's mark in the master cup, we may be able to narrow down where these weights originated. *Deagan, Kathleen. Artifacts of the Spanish Colonies of Florida and the Caribbean 15001800. Smithsonian. 1987. *Kisch, Bruno. Scales and Weights: A Historical Outline. New Haven, Connecticut. Yale University Press. 1965. *de Maisonneuve, Bernard et Mireille. Le Maidstone. Arhims. 1991. Dehydration of Cannon 2
Cannon 2 (C2) was a topic in our last conservation report in which we discussed cleaning out the remaining concretion from inside the bore. After the bore was cleaned C2 continued desalination in electrolysis until that process was complete in September. Successive baths of RO water (water purified by reverse osmosis) rinsed out the sodium carbonate electrolyte and by December the cannon was dehydrated. C2 was taken through the same dehydration procedures as C4 (March/April 2005) & C3 (July-September 2006). Tannic acid was applied to all surfaces and the cannon is now being monitored in the main building for stability. Since dehydration in December the cannon has lost four pounds of water. The bore of cannon do not get much air flow so we have placed a tube of desiccant up the bore to keep the environment dry similar to the way we described in the July/August 2005 report but replacing the calcium sulfate with self-indicating silica gel. C2's bore has been relatively stable only showing small signs of corrosion; keeping fresh desiccant in the bore has helped aid dehydration. We hope to have C2 at the museum soon for public display.
Artifacts Transferred to Museum In July of 2008, the QAR Lab transferred 27 artifacts to the North Carolina Maritime Museum (NCMM) in Beaufort. Artifacts transferred included a grinding stone (QAR911.000), 5 lead strips, 1 cannon apron (QAR543.000), 4 wrought iron artifact, and 49 lead shot of both 2-part molds and Rupert sizes. A pewter plate (QAR1355.000) with the touchmark of Henry Sewdley (L.T.P. 1709) was also among the artifacts transferred to the NCMM, but its true destination was Washington, DC, where it will be on exhibit in the Smithsonian Institution. One featured artifact known as the seat of ease (QAR632.000) was transferred to the NCMM in October 2008. This flanged lead tapered pipe was recovered from the stern area of the wreck and is no longer cylindrical in shape; instead it has been flattened from the wrecking process. In its original form this object was known to many as the ships' "head" or "latrine", which was the sanitary facility for everyone aboard the ship. For the crew and most officers, these individual sanitary facilities or "seats of ease" were located on each side of the ship's bow and equipped with drainage sluices to direct human refuse downward to the sea. For the officers, these accommodations were located at the ship's stern in an area known as the quarter galleries. These galleries or balconies were projected from the stern area allowing drainage downward to the sea. Various tapered lead tubing labeled either 'pissdales' or 'seats of ease' have been recovered from other shipwrecks, Whydah (1717), Henrietta Maria (1700), and Dartmouth(1690), indicating these accommodations were available to the crew. The remains of the seat of ease's wooden portion have only been recorded on one shipwreck, Vasa (1628). The QAR lab has been working hard to get artifacts ready for loan to the NC Museum of History in Raleigh for the 'Knights of the Black Flag' exhibit which opened March 6th 2009. Approximately 80 artifacts, in varying stages of conservation, on loan include pewter plates, ceramic sherds, pipe stems, crown/window glass shards, wine bottle base shards, cannon apron, lead strips, gunflints, copper alloy buckles, nesting weights, chart dividers, spigot valve and hundreds of gold grains with 2 gold jewelry fragments. You will also see 11 concretions as they were recovered from the site and some will have an x-ray displayed to illustrate what type of artifact you are actually seeing. Artifacts will be on display from March 6th to January 2010. Visit www.ncmuseumofhistory.org for more information on the exhibit and museum.
Public and Professional Outreach In August 2008, Sarah started her journey towards attaining a PhD, in East Carolina University's Program in Coastal Resources Management. Her major track is in Maritime Studies. For her dissertation she plans to focus on provision for conservation of the underwater cultural heritage in North Carolina -past, present and future. Particularly focusing on how professionals, the public and politics interact to turn identified need into action - or not. In August, Shanna traveled to Port Discovery in Elizabeth City to speak to 3rd, 4th, & 5th graders (approximately 60) who participated in the 2nd Saturday Science Program coordinated by Wendy Pierce. These lively and enthusiastic students were broken up into two groups and Shanna gave a presentation about the QAR project and the lab to each group. Shanna also spoke to the Optimist Club of Greenville at the First Pentecostal Holiness Church on August 25th. The group of almost 20 enjoyed the presentation about the history of the project and what we do at the conservation lab to make artifacts available for public display. In November, the Southeastern Archaeological Conference (SEAC) was held in Charlotte, NC and the QAR project held a daylong session on Saturday. Researchers, archaeologists, and conservators gave presentations on various aspects and artifacts from the wreck site. The QAR project was featured on the cover of the conference proceedings. In January, Sarah attended the Society for Historical Archaeology (SHA) conference held in Toronto. She presented a paper titled, Sunk without Trace? Accessing the Artifact Assemblage from the North Carolina Beaufort Inlet Shipwreck (31CR314) in the conservation session. Sarah's presentation focused on the ways conservators and archaeologists strive to maintain accessibility to the artifacts for many different interested groups, as conservation and analysis proceeds. Wendy went to Siler City to talk about the QAR project to the 4th and 8th graders of Silk Hope Elementary School January 29th. Assistant Principal, Chad Morgan organized the visit because he thought it would be beneficial for students who are currently learning North Carolina history to hear about an ongoing archaeological project which is
contributing further to our knowledge of North Carolina's past. The students were given a dive gear demonstration and a slide show about the history of Blackbeard, the project, what we do at the conservation lab and why the information artifacts provide is so important. They were very excited about the presentation and asked very interesting questions. Wendy received almost 60 letters from 8th grade students and a large card signed by all the 4th graders. It's very rewarding to know you are "worth" an 8th graders' time because it means you have piqued their interest about exploring the past. For the past six years the Museum of Albemarle has put on an educational program titled "Students Day on the River" organized by educator, Lori Meads. This is an event where 4th grade students from surrounding schools come to the museum to gain a better understanding of the maritime heritage, both historical and natural, of the Albemarle Region. In March, Wendy attended the event and spoke about the QAR Project to the nearly 400 individuals from Pasquotank County including students from J.C.Sawyer Elementary, Weeksville Elementary, Pasquotank Elementary and Albemarle School. Lori conveyed that the teachers and students found the QAR presentation to be enjoyable, age appropriate and met curriculum goals set by the state of North Carolina. ICOM-CC WOAM (Wet Organic Archaeological Material) 2010 The 11th ICOM-CC WOAM working group conference will be held May 24-28th 2010 in Greenville, NC. This event will be hosted jointly by East Carolina University and the NC Department of Cultural Resources. Sarah and Emily Williams of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (CWF) have been organizing the conference. Visitors In August 2008, Mr. Bill Wilson contacted us on behalf of the River Bend Fishing and Boating Club (RBF&BC) of New Bern to arrange a tour of the lab facilities. We set a date for his group to tour the lab in January but snowy weather delayed the visit so it was rescheduled. Twenty-six gentlemen of the RBF&BC arrived for a tour of the lab facility February 25th. Shanna and Wendy led the tour groups around the lab while Franklin gave a demonstration of panning artifacts from sediment. One member of the group, Rudy Ramcke, had this to say about the tour, "….it was really outstanding. Wendy and Shanna with their wonderful enthusiasm, made
our tour really great!" We are happy the RBF&BC enjoyed their visit as we enjoyed them visiting. ECU Class Visits Classes from ECU often visit the lab to learn about the project and see the different types of artifacts recovered from the site. In September, Dr. Gerry Prokopowicz brought out 10 students from his Intro to Public History class. In October, Sarah was teaching the Conservation of Materials from Underwater Environments class and had her 11 students to the lab for a visit. Most recently in March, Dr. Lynn Harris brought 4 students from the American Maritime Material Culture class out and had a very thorough tour of the facility. Open Day Scheduled The QAR Lab has hosted two Open Day events, the first in October 2005 and again last April. The Open Day event gives members of the public a chance to come to the lab, see artifacts undergoing the conservation process and have a chance to talk to archaeologists/ conservators about current work on the project. Our next Open Day is scheduled for Saturday, April 25th 2009 from 11am - 3pm. Hope to see you here!
Conservation Laboratory Report, April 2009 UAB Conservation Laboratory, Greenville Sarah Watkins-Kenny, QAR Project Conservator Wendy Welsh, QAR Assistant Conservator
Shanna Daniel, QAR Assistant Conservator
Following the excitement and publicity of recovery of artifacts from site, it is all too easy for it to seem that artifacts sink again, without trace, when conservation begins. Despite the impression that television may give, conservation of waterlogged archaeological material takes time, especially with limited resources, as well as equipment and expertise. Our conservation reports are one of the ways we keep the public informed of what's going on in the lab. Since our last conservation report in July 2008, we have made good progress on a number of fronts. The 2008 field season was a success, which saw the beginning of a long term project to investigate the corrosion status of an anchor still on the site, and ended with the recovery of our 12th cannon, Cannon 18 (C18). The frames from the wooden hull structure are moving along in the conservation process and we are implementing a new treatment to prevent bacterial/fungi growth on our sternpost. Artifacts have been transferred to the NC Maritime Museum as well as the Museum of History and we will give a brief overview of what you might expect to see on display.
QAR Lab Crew
We were pleased when in September 2008, three of our contract staff from 2007-2008, rejoined the QAR Lab Crew until May 2009; Franklin Price, Myron Rolston, & Jon Schleier were all featured in our last conservation report. Our newest crew member is Lauren McMillan, a first year ECU Anthropology Masters student. She also began working at the lab as a Graduate Assistant in September 2008. Valerie Grussing, who worked with us last year as an illustrator, briefly returned to the lab in September to complete the illustration of the seat of ease before it was transferred to the museum. Valerie decided to leave the lab to focus on her doctoral studies at ECU's Program in the Coastal Resource Management. Her illustrations have been of great value and we wish her well in all her endeavors. We also very much appreciate contributions to the conservation effort from our volunteer helpers. In July we were assisted by Laura Brown and Peter Campbell. Laura, a junior in high school, joined us for work experience before going on to the NC School of Math and Science in Raleigh. Jessica Smeeks has just started volunteering with us. Peter and Jessica are both Master's graduate students in East Carolina University's Program in Maritime Studies. Lerae Umfleet, NCDCR Chief of Collections Management, has also spent some of
her time at the lab updating our database and assisting Myron with lead shot processing (see below). Cleaning Lead Artifacts Most recently Jon has been cleaning concretion from lead artifacts such as strips and bilge strainers. He has used a variety of techniques to clean up the lead strips including various sizes of air scribes and acidic poultices, taking great care to leave the hair encountered on the strips in place for future interpretation. Seeing how Jon is very familiar with the lead strips he has been set the task of creating a documentation template for recording the different features on the lead strips, determining which characteristics are recorded and how. Lead Shot Processing We have recovered a considerable amount of lead shot since we last reported the totals in our Jan/Feb 2006 report. The 2006 & 2007 field seasons resulted in the recovery of the majority of the lead shot from the stern area of the vessel which brings our total to more than 225,000 individual pieces. In our last conservation report, we mentioned that Myron is overseeing the processing of the large volume of lead shot, which involves separating the different styles by method of manufacture, Rupert shot and those cast in two-part molds. Myron has researched other projects such as Whydah and La Belle to see what level of recording they do on their large volume of lead shot recovered. He has come to the conclusion that everyone is doing something different and there is no standard in measuring lead shot. Recently, UAB archaeologist Nathan Henry and project director Dr. Mark Wilde-Ramsing came up to discuss the method we will use to analyze our 225,000 lead shot. The decision was made to keep all the Rupert style lead shot together since they have proven to be a consistent group. The next step is to separate the twopart molded lead shot into two groups, shot that has a diameter of 0.32" or smaller and all shot larger than 0.32". The shot larger than 0.32" will all be analyzed individually by weight and any deformities will be noted. Distinguishing the difference between manufacturing deformities and site formation deformities will be left to the collaboration between Myron and Nathan. Myron has almost completed the recording process, which will contribute greatly in the final analysis of all QAR lead shot.
2008 Fall Field Season—Preparations at the Lab One of the first tasks for the lab crew in September was to get ready to receive artifacts newly recovered from site. The main challenge each year at this time is to make sure enough tanks are at hand to keep incoming artifacts in wet storage. Before the 2008 field season began, Franklin was available to help Myron, Jon and Lauren at the lab set up a carport provided by ECU to make additional space available for artifact storage. Our 4000 square foot warehouse lab storage area is now almost full. Myron and Jon were instrumental in completing the task of making artifact storage tanks water tight and safe for storage. Project director Dr. Mark Wilde-Ramsing acquired additional storage tanks from Harlan Summers, owner of the Royal Forge and Trading Company located in Aurora, North Carolina. They provided additional storage for artifacts recovered from the 2008 field season. As luck would have it, Ed Talley of MVS Military Vehicle Equipment, learned of our needs and has donated an additional 16 tanks to the project. These tanks have held up great for us and we are thankful to Mr. Summers and Mr. Talley for their contributions. As excavations began, Lauren and Jon helped with processing the 2008 artifacts, making sure they were stored properly and inventoried. They spent many hours doing data entry and completed all the new records for this year's artifacts (c.700) by Christmas. After field season, Franklin returned to the lab to carry on with the micro archaeology of the sluice sediment. He continues to extract glass beads, gold grains, lead shot/fragments, copper alloy straight pins, bone and the most frustrating, mercury. Mercury is difficult to remove from the sediment because it has to be done under the microscope to separate the sand grains from the small globules of mercury, down to 1/10mm. Mercury will also adhere to the surface of gold grains if it comes in contact with the gold. The mercury cannot be easily separated from the gold therefore discoloring & contaminating the gold grains. Franklin will elaborate fully on the different artifacts removed during sediment processing in his upcoming article about micro archaeology.
X-radiography of Interesting Artifacts from 2008 Field Season Now that we have an x-ray system at the lab, information on newly recovered artifacts of particular interest to the archaeologists can be quickly ascertained. For example, a sword guard and a possible coin; two types of objects not previously found on the site were x-rayed within a couple of days of their recovery from the site. The sword guard (QAR3082.000) was found in unit 203 on the east side of the main ballast pile next to the north-south baseline. At first glance you can tell the sword guard is copper alloy with a missing iron blade and handle that may have been wooden. Once the artifact was x-rayed we could tell that the guard was solid and had a hole in one of the quillions. This hole would have served as a way to attach a chain to the guard that would have attached to the end of the pommel. Although still not conserved, this object is now on display at the Museum of History in Raleigh (see below). There is always something interesting recovered from the last unit excavated in a field season and this season was no different. A possible coin (QAR3233.001) was found in the sluice box from the sediment of unit 207. Even though the coin is completely covered in concretion it appears to be made of silver. If this object truly is a coin then this would be the first recovered from the site; a copper alloy coin weight with the bust of Queen Anne was recovered in 2007. Xradiography of the object revealed what is
possibly a coin in the concretion, however, the observer must keep in mind that one is looking at both sides of a coin at one time in an x-ray image. Once the type of metal is confirmed conservators will begin treatment. Another exciting `x-ray moment' was during the filming of an x-radiography session by the crew of Quickfire Media for a documentary titled, Blackbeard's Lost Ship. Conservators revealed our second serpentine sideplate that appears to be attached to a gunstock. This concretion (QAR3111.000) was recovered from unit 204 and has a large ballast stone attached to the outside of the concretion. The first serpentine sideplate (QAR366.010) was recovered from the concretion around Cannon 4 (C4). A sideplate acted as a washer for the threaded screws that anchored the gunlock into place on the gun's stock. The serpentine sideplate, so-called due to the engraving resembling a serpent or snake, was used throughout the colonial period and commonly used on trading guns. Blackbeard's Lost Ship will be on PBS April 22nd, 2009 at 8:00pm. We have also made some progress with x-radiography of concretions recovered in 2007. Lauren has been tasked with identifying artifacts in x-ray films and in doing so has brought the inventory of our x-ray films up-to-date. 2008 Fall Field Season-In Situ Monitoring/Conservation Last fall (Field Log October 6-10, 2008) conservators and archaeologists decided to start an in situ monitoring project on the north anchor, A3. This project draws upon research done mainly in Australia over the last 20 years by researchers such as Ian MacLeod who have demonstrated that measuring the corrosion potential and the surface pH of an iron artifact can give an indication of its inherent stability when referenced in a Pourbaix diagram. MacLeod has also proven that attaching a sacrificial anode to iron artifacts in situ will improve the corrosion potential and start the conservation treatment of removing chloride ions (salts) (MacLeod, 1996). The surface pH and corrosion potential was measured on A3 and a sacrificial aluminum
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anode was attached to the anchor. Below is a brief background and description of how we carried out this process. This project is ongoing so a more formal report will be posted once there is enough data to analyze and draw conclusions. Iron is the most prevalent metal on the QAR site, from cast iron cannon and wrought iron anchors to a multitude of wrought iron fasteners and cask hoops. The presence of iron in salt water creates a galvanic cell and the seawater acts as an electrolyte, increasing the rate of corrosion. A calcium carbonate layer begins to form on the surface made up of sand, shell and sea life, encrusting the entire iron artifact as well as adhering to anything around it. The encrustation grows over time and becomes very solid resembling concrete, referred to as concretion. Even though concretion is very solid, it is a semi-permeable membrane, and there is still an exchange of ions going on between the metal and the seawater. The presence of concretion has actually preserved the iron artifacts; however, it also increases the concentration of chloride and hydrogen ions at the iron surface. According to MacLeod, the pH beneath the concretion at the surface of the metal is acidic (4-5); while outside the concretion in seawater the pH is neutral to basic (7-8) (MacLeod, 1996). The corrosion of metal is an electrochemical process and the rate of decay is sensitive to temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, marine life and water movement. An artifact that stands proud on the ocean floor will have a higher corrosion potential than an artifact that is buried in the sediment; the lower the corrosion potential the less the artifact will corrode. To test the corrosion potential, the voltage of the iron object must be measured with an inert platinum electrode in relation to a silver-silver chloride (Ag/AgCl) reference electrode, indicating the difference in potential between the reference electrode and the object. Obtaining these measurements over a period of time can reflect the stability of the object. A3 was chosen to monitor because this artifact has one half buried deep in the sand and the other half protrudes about 6 feet above the ocean floor where it is always exposed to harsher conditions. The test site was chosen at the crown of the anchor, which is about 2 feet from the seabed. A sample of the marine life was taken from the anchor for analysis because different types of organisms can promote corrosion even further if they are boring organisms. The analytical equipment, both pH and voltage meter were left topside and operated by a team of two who were in constant contact with the divers. The voltage meter was connected to a laptop that constantly logged data while another person scribed the pH Image Not Available readings. The platinum and reference electrodes have 60' wires that run from the boat to the anchor. Unfortunately, suppliers do not sell pH electrodes with 60' of cable so the task of extending the cable and making the connection waterproof was complicated but Capt. Stacie Davis of the Institute of Marine Sciences made it possible. A pneumatic drill on a 50' hose attached to the compressor topside was used to drill into the concretion. These instruments were
deployed and attached to the tool stand to keep all the wires and hoses in order. Once all the tools and divers were in place the next step was to drill in to the concretion. A ½" mason bit was used so the pH electrode could fit into the hole close to the metal surface. Divers drilled into the concretion until solid metal was reached; the thickness of concretion was noted with a small ruler. The flat surface pH electrode was used to obtain the pH reading at the surface. The voltage was then obtained with the platinum electrode with the Ag/AgCl reference electrode adjacent to the test site. The voltage reading was held on the metal surface for 2 minutes to get a stable reading. After obtaining the corrosion potential and pH readings the next objective was to attach a sacrificial aluminum anode to the anchor in hopes of lowering the corrosion potential and initiating the conservation process of driving out chlorides (salts). It is the same concept as attaching sacrificial anodes to metal hulled boats or boat motors. A zinc or magnesium anode is attached to a vessel or motor so the anode will corrode instead of the hull or motor. According to MacLeod, once you hook up a sacrificial anode to an iron object in seawater the chlorides begin to diffuse away from the degraded surface and the pH increases, which will enhance the mechanical strength of concretion and protect the object better. It has been reported that objects to undergo this type of treatment have decreased in corrosion rates Image Not Available and when recovered the conservation time was reduced. These objects also appear to have more original surfaces compared to similar objects that have not undergone the treatment. (MacLeod, 1996)
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The aluminum anode was placed on a PVC frame and buried so the aluminum was just above the sea floor. A copper wire was used to attach the anode to the anchor. A band clamp was used to attach the wire to the aluminum anode. A larger band clamp was modified by attaching an adjustable screw, which connected the wire to the anchor. Once the band clamp was in place a sealant that cures underwater was put on the anchor in the newly exposed area. The anchor and anode were observed throughout the field season and the setup seemed to be holding up well. The first test was when a large storm came through the area. Once the storm passed we checked on the anchor setup and the connection to the anchor was still solid, however, the sacrificial anode had tumbled 7' to the north and west. The anode frame had flipped over and was a bit deeper than originally buried, luckily extra wire was attached to the frame in case an instance like that happened. The wire was still secure to both anchor and anode.
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There are many uses to in situ monitoring and the information this study could provide will be useful to both conservators and archaeologists. This is a long-term project and if respectable results come from A3, there is a possibility other anchors and cannon will be monitored on the site as well. If the sacrificial anode proves to work then this would mean we could actually start the conservation process of cannon and anchors on the site before they are recovered which will shorten the conservation time in the lab and possibly preserve more of the original surfaces.
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*MacLeod, Ian Donald. 1996. In Situ Conservation of Cannon and Anchor on Shipwreck Sites. Ashok Roy & Perry Smith, Ed., Preprints of the Contributions to the Copenhagen Congress, 26-30 August 1996. Archaeological Conservation and Its Consequences, pp. 111-115. Bacteria/Fungi on the Sternpost: A Growing Concern Bacteria and fungi have been a growing concern at the lab, especially on larger waterlogged wooden artifacts, such as the sternpost recovered during the 2007 fall field season. This composite structure we refer to as the sternpost is a 6-foot fragment of the ship's sternpost and its associated curved knee that served to connect the post to the keel. Other structural elements attached to the piece include fragments of both white oak bottom planks and sacrificial pine planking designed to prevent wood boring organisms from penetrating into the primary hull. Also present is the heavily concreted lower wrought iron gudgeon that would have connected and hinged the vessel's rudder onto
the back of the sternpost, a sheet of lead wrapped around the bottom of the sternpost that could have functioned to prevent chaffing, as well as tar/pitch and hair that was used as caulking. This composite artifact will be very challenging to conserve and the growth of bacteria/fungi growth may be just the start of our troubles, but the archaeological information this structure provides is invaluable.
QAR archaeologist, David D. Moore, describes the sternpost as undoubtedly the most significant
section of the remaining hull structure recovered to date, however the most interesting feature would have to be the Roman numeral "VI" carved into the upper part of the post indicating the height above the bottom of the now missing keel. These numbers would have extended up the sternpost well above the waterline to indicate the draught of the vessel (i.e. how deep she sat in the water), allowing the crew to adjust the trim of the ship as well as revealing the depth of water the ship could sail in before running aground. At least two features on the sternpost assembly, including the distance between the visible draught marks, suggest a design and construction in France, supporting the probability that this ship was the French slaver Concorde, hence Blackbeard's flagship Queen Anne's Revenge. Until this year, our strategy to control fungal growth in the wood conservation tanks was through regularly changing the water. However, even with this approach, fungi were still growing in the tanks and with the recovery of the sternpost it was decided to investigate the possibility of using a biocide/fungicide. After a literature review, a couple of products seemed promising, one of which was Kathon CG. However when we tried to purchase it from Rohm & Haas we were told that due to regulations proscribing the use of this product, it was unavailable to us. We then began the process of trying to identify a biocide that would be commercially available and yet meet conservation requirements. Our investigations led us to a product similar to Kathon but with a benzyl group attached rather than chlorine, known as Proxel, manufactured by the Arch Chemical Inc. Arch Chemical's Tech Department very graciously helped us decide on Proxel BD20, as it most closely met our specifications of use. Jim Loricchio, Arch Chemicals Inc. Account Manager was instrumental in providing the Proxel BD20 we needed to begin experimental testing. The testing consisted of using Proxel BD20 in various solutions under environmental conditions ideal for growing bacteria or fungi. The experiment contained two controls and two test samples with Proxel BD20 for each solution tested. Weight, solution color, and visual appearance, such as presence or absence of growth, were monitored weekly over eight weeks. The results from our tests indicated that Proxel BD20 could be effective in controlling the growth of bacteria and fungi in our large wood storage tanks. Proxel BD20 breaks down naturally in 9 months and is then safe to dispose of as water. Having gained permission for its use from ECU Environmental Health & Safety, we have just begun full scale use of Proxel BD20 for the sternpost tank and will be monitoring it over the next few months.
QAR Wooden Frames—Moving Forward Conserving waterlogged archaeological wood consists of removing water from the artifact until it reaches a dry state. The main concern is that water acts as a bulking agent, which physically supports the cellular structure and prevents wood from collapsing while it is wet. To prevent damage on drying, such as shrinkage and distortion, the water must be slowly replaced by another bulking agent. In 2004 (March 2004 Report) (Watkins-Kenney, et al 2005) it was decided to use a bulking agent known as polyethylene glycol wax (PEG). One of the most successful treatments of wood has involved a two-stage treatment that uses a low molecular weight PEG 400 followed by a higher molecular weight PEG 4000. This two-stage treatment is particularly good for treating waterlogged oak, which typically has a degraded outer layer and less degraded core. The low molecular weight PEG 400 penetrates readily into the smaller cellular spaces of the less degraded wood and that it may chemically bond to the wood structure replacing chemically bound water. The wood is then soaked in a solution of PEG 4000, increasing the concentration until reaching a level where it can finally move to the freeze-drying stage or be removed from the PEG 4000 solution to air dry. Thus, the PEG 4000 acts as a bulking agent, replacing the water in the cell voids. The process may seem quite simple in theory, but it can take many months to years to achieve the final end product. In November of 2005, the QAR frames were placed in a 5% v/v solution of PEG 400 in water. The percentage of PEG 400 was slowly increased until it reached a concentration of 20% v/v solution of PEG 400. It was decided to move forward with the conservation process to the second part, immersing the frames in the higher molecular weight PEG 4000. In September 2008, the QAR frames were placed in a 5% w/v solution of PEG 4000. The percentage of PEG 4000 will slowly increase over several months until it reaches a concentration of 23% PEG 4000. Afterwards, it will be ready for the freeze-drying stage of conserving wood. The progress of the QAR frames will be reported on in future reports. For more information on the conservation of wood artifacts contact Shanna Daniel at [email protected].
*Watkins-Kenney, S. Eric Nordgren, Wendy Welsh and Nathan Henry. 2005. The Queen
Anne's Revenge Shipwreck Project: Recovery, Examination and Treatment of Wood. In Hoffman et al (editors), Proceedings of the 9th ICOM Group on Wet Organic Archaeological Materials Conference. ICOM-CC, Bremerhaven. Pg389-402).
Set of Nesting Weights and the fleur-de-lis Symbol During the 2007 field season a set of seven nesting weights (QAR2590.000) was recovered from the aft section of the site. For more than 2,000 years nested weights have been important in commerce, and were made in vastly different sizes. (Kisch, 1965) Nesting weight sets were commonly used for a variety of weighing tasks, such as weighing out medicines or precious metals. These sets consist of a series of graduated, cup-shaped weights that fit into one another. The largest or 'master' cup usually had a hinged lid that enclosed the full set of nesting weights. Our set is not complete because we do not have a lid or the smallest weight, a disk that would have fit into the smallest cup. The weight of the largest cup is equal to the sum of the weights of all the smaller cups. The weighing system continues, as each weight is equal to all the smaller preceding weights down to the disk. (Kisch, 1965) Five weights have been removed from the set of seven and the first two weights (QAR2590.001 & QAR2590.002) did not possess any markings. In February, the third weight (QAR2590.003) was removed from the set and a fleur de lis symbol was identified in the bottom of the inside of the weight. The first three weights were relatively easy to remove from the set by cleaning corrosion from inbetween the weights while in an acidic treatment. Being able to manually reach the corrosion between the remaining weights became impractical so the rest of the weights were separated with the help of electrolytic reduction. Once the third weight was removed another interesting marking in the next cup (QAR2590.004) was revealed. The mark in the fourth weight looked like an arrow with decorative flare on the sides. Unsure of the meaning of the marking in QAR2590.004, it made more sense once the weight was removed from the set and the markings in the fifth cup (QAR2590.005) were exposed. QAR2590.005 has two fleur de lis symbols, one on its own and another that appears to have the number "2" stamped over it. After seeing the marking in QAR2590.005, the marking in QAR2590.004 appeared to be a stylized arrow, possibly representing a "1" stamped over a fleur de lis symbol. You can clearly see the bottom of the fleur de lis on the right side of the "1" and a portion of the fleur de lis on the left side of the "1".
From the sixteenth to the eighteenth century, Nuremburg, Germany practically held a monopoly on the production of nested weights. The weights were exported and adjusted to the local weight standard of the country to which they were sent (Deagan, 1987). Every weight removed from the QAR2590.000 set has file marks on the outside bottom of each weight. Perhaps these file marks are evidence of the adjustments made to the original weights to fit a particular system. Once all of the weights from the set are conserved we will attempt to figure out which weight system our weights follow.
Even though there is a great deal of literature about nesting weights, we have recently found examples with markings similar to our weights from a 1747 British warship, Maidstone that was lost off the coast of Noirmoutier, France. Fortunately the example from the Maidstone has all the weights to the set. The illustration shows numbers marked in the base of the nesting weights that correspond with the numbers marked in our set; 1, 2, 4, 8 (de Maisonneuve, 1991). QAR2590.004 would actually be the fifth weight in an intact set and the fifth weight in the set from Maidstone possesses the stylized "1" that looks like an arrow. It is important to mention that there are no fleur de lis markings in the base of the weights from theMaidstone. Once QAR2590.005 was removed from the set, markings in the bottom of QAR2590.006 were exposed and are similar to the markings in QAR2590.005. There are two fleur de lis symbols in the base of QAR2590.006, one off to the side and the other has a "4" stamped over it. QAR2590.006 is still attached to the outermost weight (QAR2590.007); however the numbers from our set follow the pattern of the weights from the Maidstone so we are expecting to see an "8" in the bottom of the master cup. With any luck, the "8" will be accompanied by a mark from the adjuster who filed the weights. These nesting weights are the first artifacts we have recovered from the site that have possessed fleur de lis symbols. The fleur de lis or "flower of the lily" symbol has many meanings and has been used by many countries such as France, England, Portugal and Spain. The simple presence of the fleur de lis symbol does not make it possible for us to pinpoint the origin of our set, however when we figure out
the weighing system and if there is an adjuster's mark in the master cup, we may be able to narrow down where these weights originated. *Deagan, Kathleen. Artifacts of the Spanish Colonies of Florida and the Caribbean 15001800. Smithsonian. 1987. *Kisch, Bruno. Scales and Weights: A Historical Outline. New Haven, Connecticut. Yale University Press. 1965. *de Maisonneuve, Bernard et Mireille. Le Maidstone. Arhims. 1991. Dehydration of Cannon 2
Cannon 2 (C2) was a topic in our last conservation report in which we discussed cleaning out the remaining concretion from inside the bore. After the bore was cleaned C2 continued desalination in electrolysis until that process was complete in September. Successive baths of RO water (water purified by reverse osmosis) rinsed out the sodium carbonate electrolyte and by December the cannon was dehydrated. C2 was taken through the same dehydration procedures as C4 (March/April 2005) & C3 (July-September 2006). Tannic acid was applied to all surfaces and the cannon is now being monitored in the main building for stability. Since dehydration in December the cannon has lost four pounds of water. The bore of cannon do not get much air flow so we have placed a tube of desiccant up the bore to keep the environment dry similar to the way we described in the July/August 2005 report but replacing the calcium sulfate with self-indicating silica gel. C2's bore has been relatively stable only showing small signs of corrosion; keeping fresh desiccant in the bore has helped aid dehydration. We hope to have C2 at the museum soon for public display.
Artifacts Transferred to Museum In July of 2008, the QAR Lab transferred 27 artifacts to the North Carolina Maritime Museum (NCMM) in Beaufort. Artifacts transferred included a grinding stone (QAR911.000), 5 lead strips, 1 cannon apron (QAR543.000), 4 wrought iron artifact, and 49 lead shot of both 2-part molds and Rupert sizes. A pewter plate (QAR1355.000) with the touchmark of Henry Sewdley (L.T.P. 1709) was also among the artifacts transferred to the NCMM, but its true destination was Washington, DC, where it will be on exhibit in the Smithsonian Institution. One featured artifact known as the seat of ease (QAR632.000) was transferred to the NCMM in October 2008. This flanged lead tapered pipe was recovered from the stern area of the wreck and is no longer cylindrical in shape; instead it has been flattened from the wrecking process. In its original form this object was known to many as the ships' "head" or "latrine", which was the sanitary facility for everyone aboard the ship. For the crew and most officers, these individual sanitary facilities or "seats of ease" were located on each side of the ship's bow and equipped with drainage sluices to direct human refuse downward to the sea. For the officers, these accommodations were located at the ship's stern in an area known as the quarter galleries. These galleries or balconies were projected from the stern area allowing drainage downward to the sea. Various tapered lead tubing labeled either 'pissdales' or 'seats of ease' have been recovered from other shipwrecks, Whydah (1717), Henrietta Maria (1700), and Dartmouth(1690), indicating these accommodations were available to the crew. The remains of the seat of ease's wooden portion have only been recorded on one shipwreck, Vasa (1628). The QAR lab has been working hard to get artifacts ready for loan to the NC Museum of History in Raleigh for the 'Knights of the Black Flag' exhibit which opened March 6th 2009. Approximately 80 artifacts, in varying stages of conservation, on loan include pewter plates, ceramic sherds, pipe stems, crown/window glass shards, wine bottle base shards, cannon apron, lead strips, gunflints, copper alloy buckles, nesting weights, chart dividers, spigot valve and hundreds of gold grains with 2 gold jewelry fragments. You will also see 11 concretions as they were recovered from the site and some will have an x-ray displayed to illustrate what type of artifact you are actually seeing. Artifacts will be on display from March 6th to January 2010. Visit www.ncmuseumofhistory.org for more information on the exhibit and museum.
Public and Professional Outreach In August 2008, Sarah started her journey towards attaining a PhD, in East Carolina University's Program in Coastal Resources Management. Her major track is in Maritime Studies. For her dissertation she plans to focus on provision for conservation of the underwater cultural heritage in North Carolina -past, present and future. Particularly focusing on how professionals, the public and politics interact to turn identified need into action - or not. In August, Shanna traveled to Port Discovery in Elizabeth City to speak to 3rd, 4th, & 5th graders (approximately 60) who participated in the 2nd Saturday Science Program coordinated by Wendy Pierce. These lively and enthusiastic students were broken up into two groups and Shanna gave a presentation about the QAR project and the lab to each group. Shanna also spoke to the Optimist Club of Greenville at the First Pentecostal Holiness Church on August 25th. The group of almost 20 enjoyed the presentation about the history of the project and what we do at the conservation lab to make artifacts available for public display. In November, the Southeastern Archaeological Conference (SEAC) was held in Charlotte, NC and the QAR project held a daylong session on Saturday. Researchers, archaeologists, and conservators gave presentations on various aspects and artifacts from the wreck site. The QAR project was featured on the cover of the conference proceedings. In January, Sarah attended the Society for Historical Archaeology (SHA) conference held in Toronto. She presented a paper titled, Sunk without Trace? Accessing the Artifact Assemblage from the North Carolina Beaufort Inlet Shipwreck (31CR314) in the conservation session. Sarah's presentation focused on the ways conservators and archaeologists strive to maintain accessibility to the artifacts for many different interested groups, as conservation and analysis proceeds. Wendy went to Siler City to talk about the QAR project to the 4th and 8th graders of Silk Hope Elementary School January 29th. Assistant Principal, Chad Morgan organized the visit because he thought it would be beneficial for students who are currently learning North Carolina history to hear about an ongoing archaeological project which is
contributing further to our knowledge of North Carolina's past. The students were given a dive gear demonstration and a slide show about the history of Blackbeard, the project, what we do at the conservation lab and why the information artifacts provide is so important. They were very excited about the presentation and asked very interesting questions. Wendy received almost 60 letters from 8th grade students and a large card signed by all the 4th graders. It's very rewarding to know you are "worth" an 8th graders' time because it means you have piqued their interest about exploring the past. For the past six years the Museum of Albemarle has put on an educational program titled "Students Day on the River" organized by educator, Lori Meads. This is an event where 4th grade students from surrounding schools come to the museum to gain a better understanding of the maritime heritage, both historical and natural, of the Albemarle Region. In March, Wendy attended the event and spoke about the QAR Project to the nearly 400 individuals from Pasquotank County including students from J.C.Sawyer Elementary, Weeksville Elementary, Pasquotank Elementary and Albemarle School. Lori conveyed that the teachers and students found the QAR presentation to be enjoyable, age appropriate and met curriculum goals set by the state of North Carolina. ICOM-CC WOAM (Wet Organic Archaeological Material) 2010 The 11th ICOM-CC WOAM working group conference will be held May 24-28th 2010 in Greenville, NC. This event will be hosted jointly by East Carolina University and the NC Department of Cultural Resources. Sarah and Emily Williams of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (CWF) have been organizing the conference. Visitors In August 2008, Mr. Bill Wilson contacted us on behalf of the River Bend Fishing and Boating Club (RBF&BC) of New Bern to arrange a tour of the lab facilities. We set a date for his group to tour the lab in January but snowy weather delayed the visit so it was rescheduled. Twenty-six gentlemen of the RBF&BC arrived for a tour of the lab facility February 25th. Shanna and Wendy led the tour groups around the lab while Franklin gave a demonstration of panning artifacts from sediment. One member of the group, Rudy Ramcke, had this to say about the tour, "….it was really outstanding. Wendy and Shanna with their wonderful enthusiasm, made
our tour really great!" We are happy the RBF&BC enjoyed their visit as we enjoyed them visiting. ECU Class Visits Classes from ECU often visit the lab to learn about the project and see the different types of artifacts recovered from the site. In September, Dr. Gerry Prokopowicz brought out 10 students from his Intro to Public History class. In October, Sarah was teaching the Conservation of Materials from Underwater Environments class and had her 11 students to the lab for a visit. Most recently in March, Dr. Lynn Harris brought 4 students from the American Maritime Material Culture class out and had a very thorough tour of the facility. Open Day Scheduled The QAR Lab has hosted two Open Day events, the first in October 2005 and again last April. The Open Day event gives members of the public a chance to come to the lab, see artifacts undergoing the conservation process and have a chance to talk to archaeologists/ conservators about current work on the project. Our next Open Day is scheduled for Saturday, April 25th 2009 from 11am - 3pm. Hope to see you here!
