What Are Our Options?: Assessing The Conservation Needs of Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site's Waterfront

Summary

Since 2010, the Cape Fear River has changed in unexpected ways, revealing a number of colonial-era wharves along the waterfront of Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site, near Wilmington, North Carolina. As a result, various groups have carried out research to determine the best course of action for this at-risk area.

One particular study, a Master’s thesis, developed a research design for the waterfront.  While options for site location and excavation were discussed, this work focused on the conservation needs of artifacts from Brunswick’s waterfront. Over 1,000 glass and ceramic artifacts, along with several dozen organic artifacts, have been recovered from the wharves. Because each material type has specific conservation needs, the conservation of a knit cap and two leather shoes were undertaken to test possible conservation methods to be used on other artifacts recovered from this, and similar, sites.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• It’s All in the Details: Examples of How Focused Study Can Help Tell a Story   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2015

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 150