Several of the objects found in 1995 were covered in very hard concretions because of their long stay in seawater. Two examples illustrate the work of conservators during the rescue archaeology program at Anse aux Bouleaux. In one case, a shapeless concretion with no visible clues as to what it enclosed was found to contain a 17th-century gunlock after conservation. Another concretion, affectionately called the "potato" because it remained inscrutable even when studied with X-rays, bore the imprint of part of a hammer.

Photos: Michel Élie, CCQ

This positive radiographic image (X-ray) revealed the presence of a complex mechanism: a gunlock.

Photos: André Bergeron and Yves Bellemare, CCQ

The concretion was removed in four stages, down to the original surface of the gunlock.

Illustration of a gunlock. From Marcel Curtat, Identification des objets anciens, London, 1981.

Initially, the specialists did not know exactly what conservation treatment to use on the object shown here. After removing salt and water from the concretion, they consolidated its interior and filled the cavity with synthetic resin to reinforce its structure. They then removed the outer surface of the concretion, down to the presumed surface of the object. After five hours of work, a hammer claw emerged. Although the original object no longer existed, its presence was revealed by the form of the cavity left after it had disintegrated.

Illustration of a hammer. From Joseph Moxon, Mechanic Exercises or the Doctrine of Handy-Works, 1703.

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