Chemical analysis of organic materials from the wrecksite of the HMS Swift (1770), Patagonia, Argentina

MAIER, M.; PARERA, S.D; ELKIN, D.

Buenos Aires

Congreso; 9th International Conference of Infrared and Raman Users Group.; 2010

Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, UBA

HMS Swift was a British sloop of war which sank off the coast of Patagonia in March 1770. The cold water and anaerobic conditions which prevail in this site allows an unusually good preservation of the archaeological materials. This presentation provides the results obtained from the analysis, mainly by means of FTIR spectroscopy, of the solid contents found inside two ceramic jars and a small ceramic pot,  allowing the identification of the type of organic compounds present.