Reconstructing an Eighteenth-Century Brig from Historical Photographs

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Current Research and On Going Projects at the J Richard Steffy Ship Reconstruction Laboratory" session, at the 2019 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

The Royal Navy brig Duke of Cumberland was built to counter the French presence on Lake Champlain during the Seven Years' War. In 1909, its remains were raised to attract people to Fort Ticonderoga when it was opened to the public as a heritage site. Unfortunately, its timbers were not formally recorded or conserved because archaeological methods and knowledge of conservation were limited at that time. The only evidence of this vessel's remains (apart from historical documentation and a few recovered artifacts) are a number of photographs taken throughout the twentieth century at various stages of the vessel's degradation. This presentation explores how photogrammetric techniques can be applied to historical photographs to help recover timber dimensions and hull shape. These measurements, along with other observable hull features from the photographs, provide a unique opportunity to analyze a shipwreck that no longer exists in its original form.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2019   •
• Current Research and On Going Projects at the J Richard Steffy Ship Reconstruction Laboratory

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 280