Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Colonial Williamsburg will re-treat 362 metal artifacts excavated from the 17th-century archaeological site, Martin's Hundred, settled in 1618 by 280 colonists. The artifacts represent a broad range of domestic, agricultural, and military items that were excavated in the 1970s. Almost all the iron pieces from the excavation were coated with pigmented black wax, a preservation method that is now failing. Conservators will x-ray the metal objects to identify areas of weakness and loss, remove the wax, retreat the metals with an updated preservation method, and rehouse the objects using archival storage materials and retrofitting storage drawers as necessary to maintain low relative humidity.