Topics Related to Cultural Resources (DCR)
The most prominent symbol for piracy in popular culture is a black flag decorated with the infamous skull and crossbones. This flag has been used within the mythos of pirates, both real and fictional, for over 300 years. With the expansive mythology surrounding piracy, and particularly Blackbeard, it is worthwhile to look deeper into this iconic flag and its connections to the infamous pirate.
Anchors have been made and lost for as long as humanity has taken to the sea, and the Queen Anne’s Revenge is no different.
The bulk of artifacts recovered from maritime environments, the Queen Anne’s Revenge included, are found in a concreted state, which is a cement like formation over the artifact that must be removed before further treatment can continue. After the concretion is initially assessed by the conservator via visual review and x-ray, the conservator can then begin the concretion removal process.
In imagining the wrecking of a ship, tempestuous storms and heaving, angry seas come to mind, along with valiant sailors sacrificing their lives all in the name of conquest, trade, and adventure on the high seas. You might expect that when excavating a shipwreck, archaeologists regularly uncover the remains of those same unfortunate sailors. Human remains are in fact quite rare on shipwrecks due to the human body’s propensity to float away. We also know that in the case of Queen Anne’s Revenge, the wrecking itself occurred as a grounding, a far less violent end.
The Queen Anne's Revenge has been hidden off the coast of North Carolina for almost 300 years. Those years have not been kind, slowly eroding away the organic components of the ship and encasing the metals of the ship in concretion. The sea is not particular in its encasement; like the celebrated Blob of monster movies, it not only encases the metals but anything next to it as well. Concretions can be small enough to fit in your hand, or large enough to encase a cannon – or an anchor. The Lab in Greenville has literally thousands of concretions from the site.
Glass beads were an important item in West African cultures, finding their way into the region prior to the 15th century through the trans-Sahara trade with North Africa. They functioned as ornamental items: strung into jewelry, belts, and rosaries, woven in hair, and sewn onto clothing and headdresses. Beads were also used in rites of passage or initiation ceremonies, used in protective charms and talismans, and found on statues and figurines.
Archaeological conservation is the applied science of preserving artifacts. According to the Society for Historical Archaeology, “Conservators prevent objects from deterioration through careful examination, documentation, analysis, preservation, restoration and preventive care.” In our case, these archaeological materials come from a submerged saltwater site, which adds a level of complication to the work needed to protect the artifacts for future study and interpretation.
On June 7, 1717*, the crew of La Concorde set sail from Mesurade, in present-day Monrovia, Liberia, where they stopped two weeks prior to resupply necessities such as water and food. From there they were heading to their final African destination of Judah, the French name for Ouidah in present-day Benin.
The site of Queen Anne’s Revenge is covered in concreted cask hoops, such as the one pictured here. This is not surprising, since casks were the cardboard boxes of Blackbeard’s day.