The conservation of the bronze culverins recovered from the Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes frigate
Keywords:
arqueología subacuática, conservación de cañones de bronce, Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes, Museo Nacional de Arqueología Subacuática, culebrinasAbstract
Between 2015 and 2017 the National Museum of Underwater Archaeology (ARQUA) carried out three scientific expeditions to the shipwreck of the Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes, at a depth of over 1100 m, located more than 30 nautical miles at south of Portugal coast.
Several were the aims of these three campaigns, included the documentation of its condition, the compilation of an archaeological map of the dispersed objects as well as the excavation and extraction of some of the important artifacts under degradation risks, between them, two exceptional renaissance culverins.
The two submerged bronze cannon were chemically unstable conditions, not only for having remained semi-buried on the seabed for more than 200 years, but also for its manufacture features, therefore it was necessary to lead several actions to stabilize them.
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References
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