On the Verge: A Pocket Watch from Queen Anne’s Revenge
Author(s): Karen E. Martindale
Year: 2018
Summary
Beginning with the development of the verge escapement in the 13th century, there was a trend in mechanical timepieces to make them both more accurate and more portable. The most accurate timepiece of the 18th century, the marine chronometer, could be used to determine longitude at sea, while up to this point pocket watches were used as displays of wealth and for tasks such as keeping track of watch shifts. Pocket watches were not uncommon on board ships during the 17th and 18th centuries, but few have been found in the archaeological record. Recently, several artifacts from the Queen Anne’s Revenge (31CR314) have been identified as pieces of a verge fusee pocket watch, each piece providing more information about its manufacture.
Cite this Record
On the Verge: A Pocket Watch from Queen Anne’s Revenge. Karen E. Martindale. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, New Orleans, Louisiana. 2018 ( tDAR id: 441236)
This Resource is Part of the Following Collections
Keywords
General
Blackbeard
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Conservation
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Pocket Watch
Geographic Keywords
North America
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United States of America
Temporal Keywords
18th Century
Spatial Coverage
min long: -129.199; min lat: 24.495 ; max long: -66.973; max lat: 49.359 ;
Individual & Institutional Roles
Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology
Record Identifiers
PaperId(s): 208