Weight, Weight . . . Don’t Tell Me: the Assemblage of Weights from the Storm Wreck.

Summary

The Storm Wreck was a British refugee vessel that ran aground off St. Augustine 31 December 1782. As part of the evacuation fleet of Charleston, South Carolina, it was responsible for transporting the Loyalist population and their goods necessary to begin life again in East Florida. An unassuming assemblage of artifacts from the excavation can help elucidate aspects of the refugees’ lives, their thought process during the evacuation, life aboard the ship, and the eventual wrecking event. A wide range of weights, mostly cast from lead, has been recovered on the shipwreck, ranging from fishing weights cast using musket ball molds to merchant pan weights to a large livestock tether. This paper will discuss the identification, conservation and interpretation of the numerous weights found throughout the Storm site. 

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

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 822