La Belle: The Archaeology of a Seventeenth-Century Vessel of New World Colonization

Description

In 1995, Texas Historical Commission underwater archaeologists discovered the wreck of La Salle’s La Belle, remnant of an ill-fated French attempt to establish a colony at the mouth of the Mississippi River that landed instead along today’s Matagorda Bay in Texas. During 1996–1997, the Commission uncovered the ship’s remains under the direction of archaeologist James E. Bruseth and employing a team of archaeologists and volunteers. Amid the shallow waters of Matagorda Bay, a steel cofferdam was constructed around the site, creating one of the most complex nautical archaeological excavations ever attempted in North America and allowing the archaeologists to excavate the sunken wreck much as if it were located on dry land. The ship’s hold was discovered full of everything the would-be colonists would need to establish themselves in the New World; more than 1.8 million artifacts were recovered from the site. More than two decades in the making, due to the immensity of the find and the complexity of cataloging and conserving the artifacts, this book thoroughly documents one of the most significant North American archaeological discoveries of the twentieth century. Contents Contents (cont.) Foreword Preface Acknowledgments Part I: Introduction 1. Background 2. Archival Research 3. Excavation inside a Cofferdam 4. Conservation Part II: Ship Design, Organization,and Hardware 5. Hull Analysis 6. Capturing the Curve: Underlying Concepts in the Design of the Hull 7. Rigging 8. Cordage 9. Modeling the Vessel 10. Galley and Shipboard Diet 11. Stowage and Packing Containers 12. Navigational and Related Instruments Part III: Arms 13 Artillery 14. Cannon Carriage 15. Petards 16. Firepots 17. Small Arms 18. Gunfl ints 19. Iron and Lead Shot 20. Swords 21. Polearms Part IV: Trade Goods 22. Glass Beads 23. Iconographic (“Jesuit”) and Other Rings 24. Flushloop Variety Brass Trade Bells 25. Straight Pins 26. Needles 27. Trade Axes and Knives Part V. Domestic Items 28. Ceramic Containers 29. Glass Bottles, Associated Pewter Screw Cap Closures, and Other Non-Bead Glass Artifacts 30. Contents of Packing Box 10 31. Domestic Artifacts 32. Footwear Assemblage Part VI: Organic Remains and Specialized Analyses 33, Human Skeletal Analysis 34. Facial Reconstruction and DNA Analysis of Skeletal Remains 35. Faunal Remains 36. Plant Remains 37. Textiles 38. Pigments 39. Organic Contents from Storage Containers Part VII: Conclusions 40. The Archaeology of a Seventeenth- Century Ship of New World Colonization Appendix 1: Ballast Stone Appendix 2: The Anchor Shank Bibliography Index