Over the last month, I have been working on the flintlock pistol (previously discussed here). After separating the other artifacts, I removed some of the concretion from the pistol itself. I did not want to take too much off or get too close to the surface of any artifact materials. Instead, we took the pistol back to get additional x-rays and see if there were any hidden surprises. Taking new x-rays of the pistol. [...]
Autumn brings the smell of wood smoke, washed sunlight, and relief from the oven of summer. Around St. Augustine, wood smoke as often indicates a backyard campfire as someone smoking fish. Mullet are on the beach, we’ve had our first fall Nor’easter, and all seems to be about right here in the Ancient City. Fall brings high tides every year, but 2015 has been exceptional. Check out this picture taken at high tide on [...]
On Wednesday, October 7, 2015, we will begin the final phase of conservation for the two large cannons from the Storm wreck. Removing concretion Lighthouse archaeologists excavated the guns in June, 2011, and brought them to the lighthouse. In the first phase of conservation, as much of the exterior concretion as possible was removed using hammers, chisels and air-scribes. This was to ensure no other artifacts were stuck inside the concretion, and if [...]
This article first appeared in the St. Augustine Record on Sunday, Sept. 6th. In 2007, the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum received a special category grant from the state of Florida for the First Coast Maritime Archaeology Project. In addition to funding nautical archaeology in the Nation’s Oldest Port, the grant paid for a visit to the Archive of the Indies in Seville, Spain, to obtain documents important to St. Augustine’s past. The research trip, [...]
From St. Augustine Beach, especially north of the pier, there is a persistent speck on the horizon. The speck appears from the inlet with the rising sun. Turning south and growing bigger on the horizon, the speck becomes a boat, plunging into the morning swell. Aboard is our research team. 450 years of maritime history live in these waters. As you may well know, the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum houses a maritime research [...]
This blog was provided by Chris McCarron, one of the supervisors participating in this year’s underwater archaeology field school program. The St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum is currently under way with its annual underwater archaeology field school as students dive off the coast of St. Augustine to find long lost artifacts from colonial era North America. This year’s roster includes five students from the United States and Canada, all with different fields of academic studies [...]
Archaeologists from the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum will begin their annual field school in St. Augustine on June 1st with six students from around the world. ST. AUGUSTINE, FLA. – Six students from as far away as Canada have arrived in St. Augustine, Fla., for the educational experience of a lifetime. Beginning June 1st, the students will join archaeologists from the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum for four weeks of hands-on, underwater research and excavation [...]
Lighthouse archaeologist Brendan Burke was recently featured in a short documentary about St. Augustine’s shrimping industry. The film, titled “Ancient City Shrimp” and directed by Flagler College student Eric Tragnitz, details the rise of the shrimping industry in St. Augustine and its state throughout the 20th century and today.
In 2013, in the Samut Sakhon province in Thailand, a centuries old vessel was discovered in one of the many shrimp growing ponds in the area. Through an initial excavation, archaeologists identified the vessel as an Arab style sewn boat, dating to the 9th century A.D. After a time, they realized certain components of the vessel and associated artifacts were deteriorating, which brought most of the excavation to a halt while authorities considered the best [...]
The chalupa in her slings after launch at the Camachee Cove Marina March 11, 2015 The chalupa replica project hit a major mile stone this past Saturday, March 28, when it rowed out of Hospital Creek for the first time into Matanzas Bay. The craft was blessed and christened the San Agustín six days earlier on March 22nd at her home port located at the Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park. This grass roots collaborative community [...]
