Taking it Personally: Personal Items from the Storm Wreck

Summary

The Storm Wreck, a Loyalist refugee vessel fleeing Charleston near the end of the American Revolution in 1782, was discovered by LAMP in 2009. Since 2010, a systematic excavation of the shipwreck has been ongoing, aiming at documenting, recovering, and conserving diagnostic artifacts to further understand this shipwreck and its role in Florida’s Loyalist influx, a time of civil conflict and rapidly increasing population. This paper will review artifacts from the shipwreck categorized as personal items and effects, including spoons, straight pins, belt and shoe buckles, buttons, knives, a dirk sheath, pistols, coins, a lice comb, and a fausse montre or false watch. Most are undergoing conservation treatment though many have been deconcreted and physically examined. Some can be considered diagnostic to affirm the vessel’s date, purpose, and cultural identity, while also providing a greater understanding of the social aspects of those on board forced to flee their homes. 

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The Archaeology, Conservation, and Interpretation of the Storm Wreck, a Wartime Refugee Vessel Evacuating Charleston, South Carolina at the End of the American Revolution and Lost at St. Augustine, Florida on 31 December 1782   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2016

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 818