Nicolás C. Ciarlo

National Scientific and Technical Research Council | conicet · Institute of Archaeology, School of Philosophy & Letters, University of Buenos Aires

Shipwrecks and their cargo are still prey to salvaging and commercialization activities that betray the ethical principles of cultural heritage preservation and research. Beneath a surface of compliance with methodological standards, professional involvement, governmental support, and public acclaim, the main motivation is economic profit, in many...

Archaeometry could be defined as the interdisciplinary field where knowledge and analytical methods and techniques from natural and applied sciences have enhanced research carried out in archaeology. Many studies have been focused on answering questions related to dating, exploration, artefact function and use, materials sources, and manufacturing...

Archaeometric research carried out on materials recovered from historical shipwrecks has contributed to the knowledge of Modern technology and society, frequently on aspects beyond the mere naval scope. During the last decades, works on the characterization of metal components from the hull structure and nautical equipment of diverse wooden ships s...

Resumen La navegación, la tecnología naval, la vida a bordo y las actividades llevadas a cabo en barcos de época moderna y contemporánea han sido temas ampliamente estudiados dentro de la arqueología marítima y náutica. Sin embargo, el devenir de los náufragos sobrevivientes de accidentes y las correspondientes evidencias materiales en la costa, no...

El derelicte Deltebre I, descobert de forma casual l’any 2008 proper a la desembocadura de l’Ebre, vas ser objecte d’excavació en extensió per part del Centre d’Arqueologia Subaquàtica de Catalunya entre els anys 2009 i 2016. El fet que poc després de l’enfonsament quedés colgat pel sediment va generar que les restes quedessin protegides i en un es...

Determining a ship’s identity is usually based on a critical and integral analysis of several approaches and lines of evidence. Based on Harpster's seminal work, an insight into this endeavour is developed here for the Deltebre I site. The archaeological information obtained since 2008 from the remains of the cargo, hull structure, equipment, and p...

This article deals with the study of an assemblage of scrap bronze guns recovered from the Delta III site, identified as a Dutch merchant ship lost in the port of Cadiz, Spain, about the third quarter of the seventeenth century. This kind of remains is seldom preserved and therefore stands as a unique source for addressing modern bronze gunfounding...

For European naval powers, whose economic and political well-being depended on the success of naval enterprises, warships played a fundamental role. Based on a multi-scalar and comparative approach, evidence from post-medieval (or historical) shipwrecks, can contribute to a better understanding of modern technology and society. This article deals w...

Ballast is essential for vessels to lower their centre of gravity, improve stability, and ease their motion during sailing. During the modern period, heavy materials used for ballasting ships were an issue of particular concern for both authorities and ship owners, subjected to increasing control, regulation, and standardisation. These items repres...

Las aguas turquesas, cálidas y cristalinas de las costas caribeñas de México, Guatemala, Belice y Honduras, albergan uno de los ecosistemas más importantes del mundo, el Sistema Arrecifal Mesoamericano, el cual incluye una barrera coralina que le sigue en significancia a la Gran Barrera de Coral australiana. Dentro de este Sistema destaca Banco Chi...

Lead isotope analysis (LIA) is a valuable means for assessing provenance of raw material used in artefacts from Antiquity. Available data on isotopic composition of Roman-period artefacts (e.g. lead ingots from shipwrecks) and samples from lead sources constitute an outstanding frame of reference to develop these studies. In this work, analysis was...

Spatially resolved neutron texture analyses were performed on several copper bolts used to fasten different wooden components of the hull of the Deltebre I (1813) shipwreck. Since 2008 this site has been the subject of a thorough archaeological study by the Catalan Centre for Underwater Archaeology of the Archaeological Museum of Catalonia. It has...

After four decades of research, the Vice-Directorate of Underwater Archaeology of the National Institute of anthropology and History in Mexico (SAS-INAH) recorded around 400 underwater archaeological contexts in the Gulf of Mexico and the Mexican Caribbean. One of the great challenges has been the correlation of historical, archaeological and mater...

In: F. Cerezo Andreo and C. Pérez-Reverte Mañas (eds.), Book of Abstracts, I Congreso Iberoamericano de Arqueología Náutica y Subacuática, pp. 134-137. University of Cadiz, Cadiz, Spain. Available in: https://rodin.uca.es/xmlui/handle/10498/25256 [Access: 02.08.2021]

In: F. Cerezo Andreo and C. Pérez-Reverte Mañas (eds.), Book of Abstracts, I Congreso Iberoamericano de Arqueología Náutica y Subacuática, pp. 330-333. University of Cadiz, Cadiz, Spain. Available in: https://rodin.uca.es/xmlui/handle/10498/25256 [Access: 02.08.2021]

In: F. Cerezo Andreo and C. Pérez-Reverte Mañas (eds.), Book of Abstracts, I Congreso Iberoamericano de Arqueología Náutica y Subacuática, pp. 19-22. University of Cadiz, Cadiz, Spain. Available in: https://rodin.uca.es/xmlui/handle/10498/25256 [Access: 02.08.2021]

In: F. Cerezo Andreo and C. Pérez-Reverte Mañas (eds.), Book of Abstracts, I Congreso Iberoamericano de Arqueología Náutica y Subacuática, pp. 108-111. University of Cadiz, Cadiz, Spain. Available in: https://rodin.uca.es/xmlui/handle/10498/25256 [Access: 02.08.2021]

In: F. Cerezo Andreo and C. Pérez-Reverte Mañas (eds.), Book of Abstracts, I Congreso Iberoamericano de Arqueología Náutica y Subacuática, pp. 278-281. University of Cadiz, Cadiz, Spain. Available in: https://rodin.uca.es/xmlui/handle/10498/25256 [Access: 02.08.2021]

In: F. Cerezo Andreo and C. Pérez-Reverte Mañas (eds.), Book of Abstracts, I Congreso Iberoamericano de Arqueología Náutica y Subacuática, pp. 128-131. University of Cadiz, Cadiz, Spain. Available in: https://rodin.uca.es/xmlui/handle/10498/25256 [Access: 02.08.2021]

In: F. Cerezo Andreo and C. Pérez-Reverte Mañas (eds.), Book of Abstracts, I Congreso Iberoamericano de Arqueología Náutica y Subacuática, pp. 124-126. University of Cadiz, Cadiz, Spain. Available in: https://rodin.uca.es/xmlui/handle/10498/25256 [Access: 02.08.2021]

In: F. Cerezo Andreo and C. Pérez-Reverte Mañas (eds.), Book of Abstracts, I Congreso Iberoamericano de Arqueología Náutica y Subacuática, pp. 346-350. University of Cadiz, Cadiz, Spain. Available in: https://rodin.uca.es/xmlui/handle/10498/25256 [Access: 02.08.2021]

The 74 gun French ship Fougueux (1785-1805) belonged to the Spanish-French fleet that in 21st October of 1805 faced the British fleet in the Battle of Trafalgar. This warship was lost off Sancti-Petri coast after the battle. About two centuries later, an array of iron cannons and wooden remains were studied at this site by the Underwater Archaeolog...

Shipbuilding of naval and merchant ships of different types and sizes has required a profound knowledge of every constitutive element. Bolts and nails, in particular, played a significant role as they maintain joined and secured the main structural components of wooden hulls. This article aims to contribute to assess the technical issues of the ele...

Data sharing is a fundamental process for the advancement of both natural and social sciences. Starting from the idea that computers and the internet have drastically changed the world in the last decades, this paper advocates for the creation of a space where archaeologists from around the world can share information about maritime history and exc...

Historical archaeology can be defined as the specialty that deals with the recent human past, in America’s case, since the arrival of the Europeans to the continent, through the material evidence of human activities and other sources of information. Works carried out within this scope deal with multiple topics and from different theoretical perspec...

En este trabajo se presenta el desarrollo del proceso de patrimonialización de un cañón de hierro fabricado en 1789, probablemente en una fundición sueca. La pieza de artillería fue recuperada a comienzos del siglo XX del solar en donde funcionó el antiguo Juzgado de Paz y la Comisaría de San Antonio de Areco. Dicha pieza, forma parte de un conjunt...

Researches on human activities and their material evidence have occupied an important place in the agenda of many social disciplines. These studies are of an outstanding interest to the understanding of various aspects of people’ past and current life. As a whole, cover different temporal and spatial contexts, theoretical approaches, subjects, mate...

In this note, we summarise the ongoing research on the Deltebre I (1813) shipwreck, highlighting especially the spatially resolved neutron texture analysis on the copper bolts used to fasten different wooden components of the hull’s structure of the ship. The texture results indicate that two methods were most likely used to manufacture the structu...

Derivado de la elaboración de la carta arqueológica de la Reserva de la Biosfera Banco Chinchorro, Quintana Roo, integrada por la Subdirección de Arqueología Subacuática del INAH desde el 2006 con el apoyo de pescadores y de la Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas, se cuenta con el registro de 69 contextos conformados por naufragios y re...

Este trabajo presenta los últimos resultados del análisis distribucional de los objetos hallados en el sitio del campo de batalla de La Verde, Provincia de Buenos Aires. Allí, el 26 de noviembre de 1874 se enfrentaron dos ejércitos con fuerzas asimétricas, en el marco de la denominada Revolución Mitrista: las fuerzas gubernamentales de la nación ar...

Gunflints represent a worldwide feature of lithic technology in modern times. This type of artefact was used to ignite the powder of firearms through a flintlock mechanism from the middle-seventeenth to the early-twentieth century in different contexts around the world. Taking what is a novel and exploratory approach in historical archaeology, this...

Since 2016, the International Doctoral School in Sea Studies at the University of Cadiz (EIDEMAR-UCA), Spain, has offered two degree programs: a MA Program in Nautical and Underwater Archaeology, and a PhD Program in Maritime History and Archaeology. Several European and Latin-American students have conducted archaeometric research within this scen...

Anchors were an element of outstanding importance throughout the history of navigation. In the 18th century, European warships used various types and relied on them to anchor and perform other maneuvers. The anchor industry was at that time one of the most complex expressions of iron forging technology and, under a process of increasing industriali...

Waters that bathe the Chinchorro Bank Biosphere Reserve, located off Yucatan Peninsula eastern shore (Caribbean Sea), host an everlasting testimonial of centuries of seafaring. Archaeological research conducted by the Mexican National Institute of Anthropology and History allowed recording 69 shipwreck and other archaeological remains associated wi...

Lead isotopes analysis is a valuable means for assessing provenance of raw material used in artifacts from Antiquity, and results with archaeological remains are increasingly encouraging. Available databases on isotopic signatures of Roman period artifacts (e.g. lead ingots from shipwrecks) and samples from lead sources used at that time constitute...

The first results of the historical and archaeological research of the Fort Cruz de Guerra site, are presented in this work. This frontier military settlement was built in 1828 following a design of the French Engineer Narciso Parchappe, and it was located south of the homonymous lagoon, at the 25 de Mayo Department, Province of Buenos Aires. It wa...

In 1845-1846, British and French forces tried to break the fluvial routes into the territories of Northeastern Argentina and Paraguay, where they intended to exchange goods motivated by its free trade policy. These hostilities against the government of the Argentinean Confederation culminated in what is known as the Parana War. The strategy of the...

In November 1845, a naval and terrestrial battle between the forces of the Argentinean Confederation and an Anglo-French fleet took place in Vuelta de Obligado, Province of Buenos Aires. The objects and structures which survived after this event, together with the ulterior influence of the formation processes, resulted in an archaeological site cha...

In this work, the first results of the historical and archaeological research of the Fuerte Cruz de Guerra site, centered in the analysis of the architectural features and the social dynamics within it, are presented. This frontier military settlement was built in 1828 following a design of Engineer Narciso Parchappe, and it was located south of th...

War, a ubiquitous activity in the history of human societies, is a practice whose study has been limited in the realm of the social sciences until recently. In this paper a brief theoretical introduction to the anthropological-archaeological approach for the analysis of this phenomenon is presented using two case studies within historical archaeolo...

In: Serie Monográfica y Didáctica 56 (Book of Abstracts, VII Congreso Nacional de Arqueometría), pp. 149-151. Faculty of Natural Sciences and Institute Miguel Lillo, National University of Tucuman, Province of Tucuman, Argentina.

In: Serie Monográfica y Didáctica 56 (Book of Abstracts, VII Congreso Nacional de Arqueometría), pp. 136-138. Faculty of Natural Sciences and Institute Miguel Lillo, National University of Tucuman, Province of Tucuman, Argentina.

In archaeology, data obtained from the analysis of material evidence (i.e., the archaeological record) from extensive excavations have been a significant means for the ultimate development of interpretations about human life in the past. Therefore, the methodological procedures and tools employed during fieldwork are of crucial importance due to th...

This research deals with the analysis of technological innovations and conflict of naval powers from mid-18th to early 19th century, with focus on the applications of metallurgy to warships. An array of metal artifacts from British, French and Spanish shipwrecks from this period was characterized. Ships of different rates (and unrated) were conside...

This article presents an analysis of the process that led to the introduction of the copper sheathing in the last third of the 18th century, which was the main system used by the European navies to protect their warships’ hull from the action of shipworms and other marine organisms. Based on the study of historical and archaeological data, signific...

The study of Modern naval artillery is particularly relevant to understand combat tactics, naval architecture, and the process of industrialization. The batteries of frigates and ships of the line of the 18th century main maritime powers were the main means to settle their naval disputes. The iron cannons carried on board were subject to several te...

La Arqueología histórica puede definirse tentativamente como la especialidad dedicada a la investigación del pasado reciente del ser humano, que en el caso de América cubre el rango temporal que se inicia con la invasión de los europeos al continente, por intermedio de la evidencia material producto de sus actividades y de otras fuentes de informac...

This paper presents the results of the archaeological research carried out for more than a decade at Vuelta de Obligado (San Pedro) and El Tonelero (Ramallo), North of Buenos Aires Province. The objectives aimed to understand the dynamics of the strategy pursued during the battles fought in 1845 and 1846 by Anglo-French and Argentinean troops, and...

En el presente trabajo se exponen los resultados de la caracterización físico-química de un conjunto de diversos artefactos –elementos estructurales y componentes de aparejos– recuperados del navío español de 64 cañones Triunfante (1756-1795). Este barco de 64 cañones, nacido del genio de Jorge Juan, sirvió en sus últimos días a la escuadra comanda...

Copper alloy sheathing used to protect ships hulls from different wood-infesting organisms (borers and foulers) was widespread since the late 18th century. In this work the characterization results of a sheathing fragment and tacks from the site Puerto Pirámides 1, Peninsula Valdes (Chubut Province, Argentina) are presented. Through metallographic...

In this paper, the characterization results of an array of copper spikes, recovered from the Camposoto site (San Fernando, Andalusia, Spain), are presented. The research of the site, developed by the Underwater Archaeology Centre (CAS) of the Andalusian Historical Heritage Institute (IAPH), allowed identifying the underwater remains as the French N...

The ordnance of early Modern main maritime powers (i.e. Great Britain, France, and Spain) played an important role in conflicts for supremacy of the seas. Therefore, it was subjected to various innovation processes, in order to improve their efficiency. This study presents the characterization results of an array of iron projectiles recovered from...

Four British copper coins, three halfpennies and a farthing, recovered from the wreck of the sloop-of-war HMS Swift (1770), were analyzed. The application of scanning electron microscopy with the aid of an energy dispersive X-ray detector (SEM-EDAX), and wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence (WDXRF) allowed the determination, by nondestructive m...

Proceedings of the IV Jornadas Nacionales para el Estudio de Bienes Culturales (San Carlos de Bariloche, 2015)

Historical maritime archaeology was established as a scientific specialty in Argentina in the mid-1990s. Since then studies of metal artifacts from historic shipwrecks (17th to 20th century) have occupied a remarkable place within this field. In the early 2000s analytical methods and instrumentation for the physicochemical characterization of evide...

In this essay a critical view on the details of the practice of academic writing and publication, particularly within social sciences, is presented. The quality criteria defined by the usual diffusion means, i.e. scholarly journals, and the assessment modality on which students and junior researchers are subjected nowadays, are outlined. Particular...

This paper presents the results of the physico-chemical characterization of metal artifacts – structural fittings and rigging components– recovered from the 64-gun Spanish ship Triunfante (1756-1795), lost-off Golfo de Rosas (Cataluña, Spain). The following analytical techniques were applied: visual inspection by optical stereomicroscopy (OSM); met...

This book presents the research results carried on the metallic artifacts from the sloop-of-war HMS Swift (1770), lost off Puerto Deseado (Santa Cruz province, Argentina). The shipwreck was found by local divers in 1982 and it has been subject of archaeological study since 1997, under the direction of Dolores C. Elkin (PhD, Argentinean National Res...

This article gives the preliminary results of a study of metal artefacts recovered from European shipwrecks dating from the mid 18th- to early 19th-century. The analytical approach included optical emission spectrometry (OES), atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) and infrared spectroscopy (IR) which determined the main constituents and trace elemen...

Proceedings of the Jornadas Nacionales para el Estudio de Bienes Culturales (Buenos Aires, 2011)

This paper describes and interprets a metal dog collar recovered from the HMS Swift shipwreck (1770), in Puerto Deseado (Santa Cruz, Argentina), by the Underwater Archaeology Programme of the Argentinean National Institute of Anthropology. The original function, manufacturing process and subsequent modifications to the piece are discussed.

The results of morphological and microstructural examination of an anchor found near the site of the shipwreck (1770) of the British sloop-of-war HMS Swift during the enlargement of Puerto Deseado pier are presented. The following analyses were performed: Microstructural characterization, determination of chemical composition, and microhardness tes...

The settlement that took place after the “Conquest of the Desert” (1885-1935) in the territory of La Pampa is barely represented with archaeological research. Until now, only some archaeological excavations and superficial materials have been recollected. In Trenel, Realicó, Chapaleufú, Maracó and Rancul districts, in the north of the province, the...

Different types of materials found in association with a human skeleton found in an 18th century shipwreck in Patagonia (Argentina) were analyzed by means of OM, SEM–EDX, HPLC, and chemical analysis. Alizarin and purpurin, the main anthraquinones of the dye plant Rubia tinctorum L. (madder) were identified as the coloring matter of a red fabric att...

Se presentan los resultados de la caracterización físico-química de dos cuentas líticas del valle inferior del río Manso (provincia de Río Negro); una del sitio Paredón Lanfré y la otra, de similares características, del sitio Campamento Argentino. Los estudios consistieron en observaciones macroscópicas y microscópicas-estas últimas por intermedio...

Presentamos los resultados de la caracterización morfológica y microestructural –por metalografía y análisis químicos– de un ancla hallada en cercanías del naufragio de la corbeta de guerra HMS Swift (1770), Puerto Deseado. Determinamos algunos aspectos del proceso de fabricación y del material empleado. Las características de la pieza son consiste...

En este trabajo presentamos una sinopsis de las investigaciones realizadas en nuestro país en arqueología subacuática, junto con una reseña de los antecedentes de esta especialidad y el afianzamiento de la misma dentro del ámbito científico. Abordaremos los proyectos de investigación desarrollados, fundamentalmente en sitios de momentos históricos,...

This paper deals with the “BG2” wrecksite, which is located in the intertidal coastal zone of Puerto Madryn. An erosion process that affects the area is progressively exposing the remains. It was decided to conduct an archaeological research in order to identify the chronological and cultural context of the vessel and assess its historical and scie...