Lives Revealed: Interpreting the Human Remains and Personal Artifacts from the Civil War Submarine H. L. Hunley

Part of: Society for Historical Archaeology 2020

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Lives Revealed: Interpreting the Human Remains and Personal Artifacts from the Civil War Submarine H. L. Hunley," at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

In 2000, the Civil War submarine H. L. Hunley was raised from the seabed with everything it carried, including the remains of eight crewmen, still encased in sediment. The subsequent excavation, at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center in North Charleston, South Carolina, revealed well preserved skeletal remains and a range of artifacts that shed light on the identity, background, health, and habits of the men lost on the night of February 17, 1864. This session will present an overview of the work that went into recovering, preserving, and interpreting the evidence of the men and their lives in the 19th century through archaeological excavation, conservation, osteology, historical research, and material culture analysis.

Other Keywords
Hunley • Civil War • submarine • Conservation • Material Culture • Textiles • Osteology • Artifacts • Waterlogged • Clothing

Temporal Keywords
19th Century • American Civil War

Geographic Keywords
Coahuila (State / Territory) • New Mexico (State / Territory) • Oklahoma (State / Territory) • Arizona (State / Territory) • Texas (State / Territory) • Sonora (State / Territory) • United States of America (Country) • Chihuahua (State / Territory) • Nuevo Leon (State / Territory) • Delaware (State / Territory)

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-8 of 8)

  • Documents (8)
Documents
  • Crewman "Miller" - Man of Mystery (2020)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Stephen P Weise.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Lives Revealed: Interpreting the Human Remains and Personal Artifacts from the Civil War Submarine H. L. Hunley" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. In 2000, Civil War submarine H. L. Hunley was raised from the seabed off Charleston, S.C. As recovered, the sub was a well-preserved time capsule for the crew of eight men, who conducted a successful attack on USS Housatonic February 17, 1864. One crew member,...

  • Excavation and Conservation of Waterlogged Archaeological Textile from the American Civil War Submarine H.L.Hunley (2020)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Johanna A. Rivera.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Lives Revealed: Interpreting the Human Remains and Personal Artifacts from the Civil War Submarine H. L. Hunley" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. During excavation of the American Civil War submarine H.L. Hunley, archaeologists uncovered skeletal remains of the eight-man crew along with fragile, waterlogged fragments of their clothing. Due to their fragility, the textiles could not be excavated in situ, but...

  • George Dixon: Personal artifacts of H.L. Hunley’s enigmatic captain. (2020)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Michael P Scafuri.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Lives Revealed: Interpreting the Human Remains and Personal Artifacts from the Civil War Submarine H. L. Hunley" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. George E. Dixon was the last captain of the H.L. Hunley submarine. He was the most famous member of the crew during the historic events surrounding the submarine’s sinking of USS Housatonic, but many details of his life remain a mystery. This paper will take a...

  • H.L. Hunley The Next Step: Inside The Side (2020)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Robert S Neyland.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Lives Revealed: Interpreting the Human Remains and Personal Artifacts from the Civil War Submarine H. L. Hunley" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. This presentation introduces the ongoing research and analysis being conducted in prepartion for the Hunley report on the interior excavation of the submarine, the personal effects of the crew, and the forensic analysis of the eight crewmembers. Hunley was a sealed...

  • The Men of the H. L. Hunley: An Osteological Portrait (2020)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Kathryn Barca. Douglas Owsley.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Lives Revealed: Interpreting the Human Remains and Personal Artifacts from the Civil War Submarine H. L. Hunley" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. The remains of the Hunley crew were removed from the vessel following a careful, detailed, documentation process. Osteological, stable isotope, and DNA analyses confirmed the identities and places of origin of the eight men. The skeletal remains provide details...

  • Preserving Human Remains in the Context of Excavation and Forensic study of the H. L. Hunley (2020)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Paul Mardikian.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Lives Revealed: Interpreting the Human Remains and Personal Artifacts from the Civil War Submarine H. L. Hunley" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. The waterlogged, anoxic and mostly sealed conditions that prevailed inside the Hunley​ ​for 136 years provided an optimal environment for the preservation of the human remains from the eight crewmembers. Of all the materials preserved on the submarine, conjoined...

  • Small Things: Utilitarian Objects from the Crew of H. L. Hunley (2020)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Heather Brown.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Lives Revealed: Interpreting the Human Remains and Personal Artifacts from the Civil War Submarine H. L. Hunley" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. The Confederate submarine H. L. Hunley was lost with eight crewmen off the coast of South Carolina on February 17, 1864. As a hand-powered, short-range vessel, the boat was not designed to live aboard. The men carried only what they needed for a single excursion....

  • What They Wore: An Examination of the Clothing and Shoes Recovered from H.L. Hunley (2020)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Nicholas J DeLong.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Lives Revealed: Interpreting the Human Remains and Personal Artifacts from the Civil War Submarine H. L. Hunley" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Following the excavation of the Hunley submarine, a plethora of artifacts related to the crewmember’s clothing were documented and recovered for conservation at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center. These artifacts included buttons from military and non-military...