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)