The Conservation of the Monterrey A Artifacts

Summary

In the Gulf of Mexico in July of 2013, the research vessel E/V Nautilus sent the remotely operated vehicle Hercules down to a depth of over 1330m to survey and recover artifacts from an early 19th-century shipwreck known as the Monterrey A that had been surveyed the year before. They recovered more than 60 artifacts, all of which are currently being conserved and studied at the Texas A&M Conservation Research Laboratory. This paper presents a survey of the techniques currently being used to conserve and analyze the assemblage, as well as an assessment of the efficacy of these techniques. 3D modelling has been implemented as part of the documentation process using both laser scanning and photo-modeling. Elemental analysis by means of x-ray fluorescence has given insight into not only the composition of the artifacts, but in some cases has even helped in dating the wreck by identifying artifact manufacture techniques. 

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The Monterrey Shipwreck Project: Three Early 19th Century Wrecks In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico.   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2015

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 254