1. DR. HAMILTON’S FIRST BIG PROJECT:
TO CONSERVE THE MULTITUDE OF ARTIFACTS RECOVERED FROM THREE SPANISH GALLEONS THAT WRECKED OFF PADRE ISLAND, TEXAS, IN 1554

2. THE GALLEONS’ STORY WAS PIERCED TOGETHER FROM FINDINGS FROM THE WRECKS AND FROM RECORDS GLEANED FROM THE ARCHIVES IN SPAIN

3. THE FATED VOYAGERS LEFT VERA CRUZ IN THE SPRING OF 1554
THE FATED VOYAGERS LEFT VERA CRUZ IN THE SPRING OF THEY WERE HEADING HOME TO SPAIN WITH THE RICHES OF THE INDIES AND NEW SPAIN

4. BEFORE THEY COULD REACH HAVANA, CUBA, HOWEVER, A STORM THREW THE SHIPS INTO THE WATERS OFF PADRE ISLAND

5. OTHERS WERE CAPTURED AND KILLED BY THE ISLAND’S NATIVES
WHILE SOME SURVIVED THE WRECK, MOST DIDN’T LAST TOO LONG ON A DESERTED BEACH AND DIED FROM HUNGER AND THIRST
OTHERS WERE CAPTURED AND KILLED BY THE ISLAND’S NATIVES

6. LATER THAT SAME YEAR, A SPANISH SALVAGE EXPEDITION RECOVERED MOST OF THE FLEETS’ LOST RICHES

7. IN 1972, 418 YEARS LATER, MEN (AND WOMEN) WERE AGAIN RUMMAGING THROUGH GALLEON REMAINS, LYING 20 FT. UNDER THE SURFACE

8. IT IS THE OLDEST VERIFIED SHIPWRECK SITE IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE
ALTHOUGH MOST OF THE VALUABLE LOOT IN THE WRECKS WAS GONE, THE WORTH OF THE SUNKEN CARGO WAS PRAISED FROM A DIFFERENT STANDPOINT:
IT IS THE OLDEST VERIFIED SHIPWRECK SITE
IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE

9. THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL TREASURE TROVE PRODUCED A BOUNTY OF ARTIFACTS

10. SOME, SUCH AS THESE MASSIVE ANCHORS, ARE EASILY RECOGNIZABLE

11. OTHERS ARE CONTAINED WITHIN SHAPELESS MASSES OF ROCK, KNOWN AS CONGLOMERATES, WHICH REQUIRE TO BE X-RAYED BEFORE THEIR IDENTIFICATION IS REVEALED

12. DR. HAMILTON IS A DAB HAND AT CLEANING, CONSERVING, AND STABILIZING THE CRUSTY RELICS

13. THE JOB REQUIRES A STEADY HAND, A KEEN EYE, AND A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF PATIENCE

14. PNEUMATIC TOOLS, HAMMERS, AND CHISELS ARE KEY ITEMS IN THE CONSERVATOR’S TOOL KIT

15. THE CORROSION ON METAL ARTIFACTS IS REDUCED USING ELECTROLYSIS

16. HUGE STORAGE VATS CONTAINING A CHEMICAL SOLUTION TO RETARD OXIDATION ACCOMMODATE LARGE ARTIFACTS, SUCH AS ANCHORS AND CANNON

17. AN X RAY OF THIS CONGLOMERATE . . . .
DOCUMENTATION IS CRUCIAL IN ARTIFACT CONSERVATION. RECORDS MUST BE KEPT OF EACH STAGE IN THE PROCESS
AN X RAY OF THIS CONGLOMERATE

18. REVEALED THAT IT CONTAINED SILVER DISCS AND COINS, GLASS SHARDS, AND PINS AND NAILS

19. ANOTHER HELD MORE SILVER BULLION – HERE SHOWN BEING EXTRACTED BY DR
ANOTHER HELD MORE SILVER BULLION – HERE SHOWN BEING EXTRACTED BY DR. HAMILTON USING A PNEUMATIC AIR SCRIBE

20. IN FACT, THE GALLEON WRECKS PROVIDED MUCH DATA ON COINAGE AND SMELTING OF SILVER AND GOLD IN THE 16TH CENTURY

21. ON ONE SIDE, THE COINS SHOW TWO PILLARS, WHICH REPRESENT THE PILLARS OF HERCULES, AND THE INSCRIPTION PLUS ULTRA, WHICH WAS PART OF THE MOTTO OF THE SPANISH CROWN. THE NAMES CARLOS AND JOHANA, KING AND QUEEN OF SPAIN, WERE INSCRIBED ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE, AS WAS THE ASSAYER’S INITIAL AND THE MINT MARK.

22. THE TWO GOLD BARS RECOVERED ALSO SHOW MINT AND ASSAYERS’ MARKS

23. SOME OF THE MORE MUNDANE, YET FASCINATING, ITEMS RECOVERED FROM THE WRECKS INCLUDED REMNANTS OF CLOTH, AND FOOD REMAINS, SUCH AS NUTS, OLIVE PITS, AND PORK BONES

24. FRAGMENTS OF DECORATED POTTERY AND PEWTER PLATES AND PORRINGERS

25. TINY BRASS PINS, WORN IN PLACE OF BUTTONS, WERE ALSO FOUND

26. SPANISH ARMAMENTS FROM THE WRECKS INCLUDED VARIOUS IRON CANNON, SUCH AS THESE BOMBARDETTAS . . .

27. AND NUMEROUS SWIVEL GUNS

28. AN IRON CROSSBOW AND WOODEN STOCK WOULD HAVE ALSO BEEN A POWERFUL WEAPON

29. A GOLD-COVERED WOODEN CROSS, A MORE PERSONAL POSSESSION

30. DR. HAMILTON SPENT FIVE YEARS CONSERVING THE MATERIAL FROM THE 1554 SPANISH SHIPWRECKS
THE PROJECT GAVE HIM THE OPPORTUNITY TO DEVELOP NEW TECHNIQUES FOR TREATING ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDS