Summer 2018: One Month, Two Wrecks, and so much Discovery!

After two long months in the field, the Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program finished their field season at the end of August. And it led to many new discoveries!

Following a month of field school, with five students and four supervisors from around the country, that worked on both an offshore wreck and a river wreck, we jumped between two sites returning and recovering artifacts at the different sites.

First, the return to Storm Wreck! It has been three years since active excavations have occurred on Storm Wreck, our 1782 Loyalist vessel. During those three years, the Lighthouse conservators and archaeologists have been prioritizing artifacts for cleaning and for return to the site. Returning artifacts to the site protection! We can’t conserve everything that we bring up, nor do we necessarily want to. Who really wants to see an exhibit filled with ONLY nails!

So this year we returned! Over two weeks, we returned five large concretions to the site. Many were filled with artifacts we already have in other open or conserved concretions or are simple the unexciting finds.

The remainder of the month we continued to excavate the Anniversary Wreck site. After weeks of feeling like we were on repeat digging the same sand from the same level over and over again (like being stuck in a revolving door or having our own Groundhog Day), we finally reached artifacts right at the end, with only four days to spare. The hole took as about four feet under the normal level of the sand! Three of the units were mapped and are being added to the site plan as we speak. Thirteen individual concretions were recovered from the site as well as BUCKETS of dredge spoil! All of which are currently being analyzed by conservators and archaeologist with the help of our amazing volunteers. The Anniversary Wreck concretions from this year, as well as the two previous years, have all be x-rayed to show their true colors.

So far, we have discovered quite a few interesting objects amongst the all the concretions recovered from the Anniversary Wreck site. Many are filled with an exciting mixture of nails, lead shot, and brass tacks—the nuts and bolts of trade items of the 18^th century. The more intricate ones show full padlocks and clothing irons. Stuck to the outside of some of these concretions are ceramics, including a piece of a creamware plate—one of the more datable items from our site. We are finally getting to the artifacts that are providing clues to solve the mystery of the Anniversary Wreck! Stay tuned for further discoveries as they come up this winter!