Archaeometry*

A wide array of specimens have been collected from the Queen Anne's Revenge shipwreck site during field expeditions. Many of these artifacts have been subjected to a battery of scientific testing and analysis.Consequently, archaeometry provides considerable supporting evidence that helps to identify the Beaufort Inlet site as the QAR.

Radiocarbon samples from hull planks, frames, sacrificial planking, and anchor stocks, along with hair recovered from caulking and pitch, were sent to the accelerator mass spectrometer facility at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Wood samples were also identified by Dr. Lee Newsom at Southern Illinois University.
Forensic experts at the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation are currently analyzing hair samples, rope fibers, and fabric recovered from the wreck. Duplicate hair samples have been sent for identification to Linda Scott Cummings of Paleoresearch Laboratories in Golden, Colorado. The hair was removed from lead stripping, sacrificial planking, and a surveying table swivel mount.
Geologists from the University of North Carolina-Asheville and Appalachian State University sectioned ballast stone to determine rock type and possible source location. Caribbean basalt and gabbro comprised the majority of the assemblage, while andesite, granite, schist, quartz, conglomerates, and limestone indigenous to France and West Africa have also been recovered. Age-dating the basalt and gabbro will help to specify the source area.
Ten gold flakes have been analyzed by geologists and metallurgists from LaQue Corrosion Services, Wrightsville Beach, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute-Blacksburg. The gold proves to be between 65% and 100% pure, and trace elements such as iridium may help to identify its original source.
Dr. Krishna Sinha of Virginia Polytechnic Institute will perform isotopic analysis on lead artifacts such as round shot, sheathing, and small decorative tacks to see if it is possible to locate the source area for this material. Geologists from the University of North Carolina-Asheville and Appalachian State University analyzed various sediments recovered from the interiors of artifacts such as the syringe, brass tube, and wine bottles to determine whether traces of the original contents could be detected.
Scientists are hopeful that the glass bottle shards recovered from the QAR are in a condition that will enable the weathering layers to be quantitatively studied. According to Dr. Robert H. Brill, glass deteriorates at a seasonal rate when buried in sediment or submerged in seawater. This decomposition stops when the artifact is removed from the weathering environment. Layering appears in the glass annually, and like tree rings, can literally be counted to see when the object was originally deposited.

*Compiled by Wayne Lusardi

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