Way Hay and Up She Rises: The Recovery, Conservation, and Documentation of a Historic Admiralty Anchor from the Gulf of Mexico

Summary

In 2013, a historic anchor was recovered from the Gulf of Mexico by a contractor working for an offshore energy operator. Because the operator failed to notify the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) of the discovery, the operator was in violation of regulations protecting submerged archaeological resources. A compromise was reached between the bureau and the operator resulting in the transportation of the anchor to the University of West Florida (UWF) for conservation and long-term study purposes. Conservation revealed markings indicating that the anchor was manufactured by R. Flinn in North Shields, England, sometime in the early- to mid-nineteenth century. In style, the anchor is of the Admiralty Pattern, and likely, one of the earliest examples. Cooperation between the parties resolved the violation and UWF received a historic piece of ground tackle that may be utilized for future instruction on the conservation of historic artifacts.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The Benefits of Collaboration: Multi-agency Partnerships and Capacity Building within Underwater Archaeology   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2018

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 807