Sparrowhawk (1626), The Oldest Shipwreck On Cape Cod, MA: An Analysis Of Wooden Artifacts Using X-ray Fluorescence (XRF).

Summary

This is a paper/report submission presented at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

In 1626, a ship carrying adventurers to Jamestown, VA, was blown off course and abandoned at Nauset, MA. Another storm in 1863 exposed the putative bark, Sparrowhawk, the earliest European shipwreck found on Cape Cod. An Olympus Delta x-ray fluorescence instrument was used for elemental chemical analysis of artifacts from the wreckage, lumber used in ship construction, and sediment from the stranding site. Histograms for individual artifacts and multivariate statistics, including Principal Component Analyses, Bray-Curtis Similarity Coefficients, and Cluster Dendrograms, were prepared to compare and contrast chemical constituents in all specimens. Results reveal that ship timbers vary in chemistry, depending on both their identification and localization as planking, futtock, rudder or keel assembly. Comparing the chemistry of historic wooden ship artifacts with sediment and lumber suggests local environmental exchanges. XRF data document qualitative and quantitative alterations in wooden ship components that parallel the physical degradation of a shipwreck in situ.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• 2020 SHA General Sessions   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2020

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 136