Current Research at Texas A&M University's Conservation Research Laboratory

Part of: Society for Historical Archaeology 2022

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Current Research at Texas A&M University's Conservation Research Laboratory," at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

The Conservation Research Laboratory (CRL) at Texas A&M University is one of the oldest and largest conservation labs in the country, and focuses primarily on artifact conservation from marine sites. The CRL is a major component of the Nautical Archaeology Program (NAP) at Texas A&M, giving NAP graduate students extensive hands-on training in conservation and providing opportunities for innovative and impactful research. This session will provide an overview of some of the exciting research currently being conducted by the faculty, staff, and students in the CRL, including conservation techniques, digitization and computer modeling, and the historical research associated with our projects.

Other Keywords
Conservation • Documentation • Historical • Preservation • Iron • Underwater Archaeology • Photogrammetry • Artifact Conservation • Quackery • X-Ray Fluorescence

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
  • Biofilms, Biocolonization, and the Conservation of Marble from Submerged Archaeological Environments (2022)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Megan C. Crutcher.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Current Research at Texas A&M University's Conservation Research Laboratory" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Gleaming white marble is often synonymous with beauty and importance. Yet biological growth often covers marble over time, masking original coloration. These effects are magnified under water, where stone becomes home to various macro- and microscopic organisms. Typically, marble from both aqueous...

  • Current Projects at the Conservation Research Laboratory (2022)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Christopher Dostal.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Current Research at Texas A&M University's Conservation Research Laboratory" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. With prehistoric canoes, several 18th century North American ships, a Civil War gunboat, and centuries-old artillery, the Conservation Research Laboratory (CRL) at Texas A&M is one of the most dynamic and varied facilities of its kind in the world. This paper will provide an overview of some of the...

  • The History and Archaeology of Quack Medicine in Texas (2022)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Olivia Brill.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Current Research at Texas A&M University's Conservation Research Laboratory" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Fraudulent medical devices or treatments, or quackeries, were initially brought to the United States by British salesmen. After the War of 1812, American quack treatments, commonly called snake oil, were concocted and reached their peak during the Civil War. Texas, which joined the United States in...

  • The Katie Eccles: Reconstructing the Hull Lines of a Great Lakes Schooner (2022)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Benjamin Ioset.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Current Research at Texas A&M University's Conservation Research Laboratory" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. In 2019, the Last Schooner Project surveyed the two-masted schooner Katie Eccles in eastern Lake Ontario, producing a 1:1 scale-constrained photo model of the site with an aim of reconstructing the lines of the hull. This paper will discuss the methodology used in reconstructing the hull form of the...

  • Laser Scanning the Alexandria, VA Ships for 3D Digital Reconstruction (2022)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Carolyn Kennedy.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Current Research at Texas A&M University's Conservation Research Laboratory" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. In early 2018 three ships were discovered during construction along Alexandria, Virginia’s historic waterfront. These three ship remnants were likely scuttled and dismantled in the late 18th, early 19th centuries to be used in banking out efforts to expand the City of Alexandria to bring the shore...

  • The Long Wait: Revisiting Treatments (2022)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Karen E. Martindale.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Current Research at Texas A&M University's Conservation Research Laboratory" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Since the Conservation Research Laboratory at Texas A&M University was established, we have strived to conserve artifacts to the best of our ability and ethical standards, adapting with the needs of the artifacts, current literature, and available treatments. Although we frequently speak to our...

  • Personal Artifacts from the CSS Georgia (2022)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Peyton W Harrison.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Current Research at Texas A&M University's Conservation Research Laboratory" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. The CSS Georgia was an ironclad steam battleship built for the Confederate navy in 1862. It acted as a floating battlement in the Savannah River and was scuttled in 1864 to prevent capture by the Union army when General Sherman advanced on Georgia. The remains of the vessel were recovered in 2015 and...

  • X-ray Fluorescence and Conservation: It's Elementary (2022)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Paul G Cochran.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Current Research at Texas A&M University's Conservation Research Laboratory" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. At the Texas A&M Conservation Research Laboratory, we pride ourselves on the breadth and quality of our research capabilities. Among these capabilities, x-ray fluorescence allows us to study the elemental composition of objects under our care. We use this tool to accomplish a number of goals, such as...