(Click images to view)

Dedication of QAR Conservation Laboratory

On January 15, 2004, an estimated 250 people jammed into laboratory and office spaces at East Carolina University's West Research Campus to dedicate the new 4,000 square foot Conservation Laboratory for the Queen Anne's Revenge Shipwreck Project. Those in attendance represented scientists, local, state, and federal agencies, business organizations, universities, and enthusiastic individual supporters. The event was one more example of the cooperative spirit that has dominated the Project since it began in 1997.

It was a festive occasion with congratulations among old and new friends, numerous exhibits and artifacts on display, lab tours, a ribbon cutting ceremony, and a buffet luncheon. Prominent individuals were on the program to welcome the group and praise the creation of the Lab: ECU Chancellor William E. Shelton, Dr. Timothy Runyan, Director, Maritime History and Nautical Archaeology, and James T. Cheatham III, Maritime Studies benefactor; Secretary Lisbeth Evans, N.C. Department of Cultural Resources; Dr. David Nateman, Director, North Carolina Maritime Museum, and Sarah Watkins-Kenney, QAR Conservator.

Secretary Evans told the group that the "facility is a wonderful addition to the QAR project, not only because it increases the number of artifacts we can raise, but it also provides double the space for conservation". Over 11,000 artifacts have been transferred from cramped quarters at Morehead City and Fort Fisher. Some of them are nearing the end of their conservation treatments and will be sent to the N.C. Maritime Museum for display. Researchers estimate that the16,000 artifacts recovered thus far represent only 2 per cent of the site's remains, which is likely to exceed a million individual pieces. The exploration of the shipwreck cannot, therefore, properly proceed without an adequately supported conservation facility and staff to clean, study and preserve the encrusted remains that Blackbeard and his crew left on the seafloor. Therefore, the partnership celebrated today between DCR and ECU is vitally important to provide research, public outreach and site preservation of North Carolina's most historic and internationally recognized shipwreck.