Artifacts from 18th-Century Ship Discovery to Go On Display

PHOTO courtesy of City of Alexandria: One of the biggest challenges archaeologists faced was how to disassemble the ship without damaging it. It was extremely well-built in the 18th century and despite being buried more than 200 years ago, remained stubbornly well-built when archaeologists tried to take it apart. It required hammers and wedges and crowbars and pry bars and jacks and even a backhoe to gently loosen and free the individual parts of this ship from each other so that they could be removed for conservation. The amount of work required to take the ship apart can be seen as a testament to the 18th century shipwrights and laborers that originally built it. (Information provided by Alexandria Archaeology.

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ALEXANDRIA, VA -- January was a busy month for Alexandria Archaeology. Work continued on the 18th-century ship, discovered in December at 220 S. Union St., as crews recorded, dismantled, and prepared the wood for conservation.

In the next couple of weeks, artifacts from the excavation site will be displayed at the Alexandria Archaeology Museum, at 105 North Union Street, Third Floor of the Torpedo Factory Art Center, the City announced Tuesday.

Also read: Remains of 50-Foot 18th-Century Ship Discovered at Construction Site

Patch will update this story as new information becomes available on the exhibition date and hours.

Location where public was invited to view ship before it was taken away to be preserved: