Current Research and On Going Projects at the J Richard Steffy Ship Reconstruction Laboratory

Part of: Society for Historical Archaeology 2019

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Current Research and On Going Projects at the J Richard Steffy Ship Reconstruction Laboratory," at the 2019 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Created by J. Richard Steffy in 1976, the Ship Reconstruction Laboratory has taught several generations of nautical archaeologists the fundamentals of the field and participated in numerous projects over the last four decades. Students still learn the traditional reconstruction methodology, while new technology in computer science allows rendering designs in a 3D perspective. Current and former students continue to work alongside each other around the world on various projects learning advanced skills in the process. Nearing the end of the second decade of the 21st millennium, we wish to showcase the current ongoing research at the Ship Reconstruction Laboratory and where it plans on going in the future.

Other Keywords
Photogrammetry • Shipbuilding • Shipwrecks • Iberian • Shipping • Civil War • X-Ray Fluorescence • Maritime Heritage • Ship Construction • Texas

Temporal Keywords
17th Century • Early Modern Period • Modern • 16th Century • Eighteenth century • Mid 19th-century

Geographic Keywords
Massachusetts (State / Territory) • New York (State / Territory) • New Hampshire (State / Territory) • Idaho (State / Territory) • Maine (State / Territory) • Wisconsin (State / Territory) • Michigan (State / Territory) • Washington (State / Territory) • Minnesota (State / Territory) • Vermont (State / Territory)

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-10 of 10)

  • Documents (10)
Documents
  • Archaeology of 17th Century Iberian Shipwrecks: Assessment and Comparison of Excavated,Recorded and Published Hull Remains (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Ricardo Borrero Londoño.

    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 17th century Iberian naval heritage has suffered a devastating reality. Out of 55 wrecks around the world that have been identified as Iberian, 37 have either been destroyed, looted, or salvaged by treasure hunters, and just 11 have been the subject of archaeological work. Only the San...

  • Ballast or Just Another Rock? Using XRF to Source Basalt Cobbles from Bridgetown, Antigua (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Arik J. K. Bord.

    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 site of Bridgetown, Antigua lies on the east side of Willoughby Bay near the Crossroads Rehabilitation facility owned and founded by musician, Eric Clapton. The site holds the remains of a town and associated harbour designated as a commerce center in a law regulating trade and taxes on...

  • The Battle of La Hougue, 1692: A portrait of the early French Navy of Colbert (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Marijo Gauthier-bérubé.

    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. During the Nine Years War (1688-97), Louis XIV of France was fighting most of the other European powers, both in Europe and the Americas. By 1692, France’s earlier victories had provided the opportunity for a large invasion force to cross the English Channel near La Hougue. The fleet was...

  • Constructing the Military Revolution (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Annaliese Dempsey.

    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. European naval warfare in the 17th century went through a dramatic change against the backdrop of the Second Anglo-Dutch War.  English and Dutch navies, using the ship of the line as an offensive weapon, switched from a melee style of battle to the line of battle.  This new tactic, which...

  • A database for the underwater cultural heritage of Portugal (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Filipe Castro.

    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. Ignored since long, the underwater cultural heritage of Portugal needs an assessment, an inventory, a diagnostic, and a set of policies for its study and protection. At the ShipLAB we believe that no policy towards the cultural heritage that does not include the population is bound to fail....

  • Hurricane Harvey: One Story of the Houston Historical Archeology Network Perservering (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Joshua Farrar.

    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. In late August 2017, Hurricane Harvey struck the Texas Coast, causing at least 70 deaths and tens of billions of dollars in damages. Already connected through a partnership of documenting and conserving Civil War artifacts recovered from Buffalo Bayou in the 1960s, the Heritage Society at Sam...

  • Mediterranean Shipbuilding In Iberia: The Dovetail Mortise And Tenon (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Charles D Bendig.

    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. Several archaeological projects in the 1980s revolved around excavation and the analysis of 16th-century Iberian shipwrecks. The number of examples allowed Thomas Oertling at the 1989 SHA conference to propose 12 characteristics that appeared on almost all vessels originating from the Iberian...

  • New Survey Visualization: Merging Photogrammetric Textures into A Multi-beam Bathymetry 3D Map. (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Kotaro Yamafune. Hironobu Kan.

    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. Multi-beam survey provides accurate bathymetric information of seafloors. However, when multi-beam applications are used to map small-detailed areas, multi-beam data became exceedingly heavy, and its data processing takes several months.  Photogrammetry provides high-resolution textures of...

  • Reconstructing an Eighteenth-Century Brig from Historical Photographs (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Daniel E. Bishop.

    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...

  • Which Software is Better for Underwater Archaeological Recording? A Brief Explanations of Agifost PhotoScan and RialityCapture. (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Kotaro Yamafune.

    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. Past 10 years, 3D photogrammetry becomes indispensable application for archaeological recordings. This quick and accurate application provides sufficient recording methodology especially for underwater archaeology. Moreover, created digital 3D models can be converted into site-plans, section...