Page 49 - Maryland Historical Trust - Archaeology Colonial MD

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Lead coffins as they appeared when fully uncovered in 1992.
a variety of organizations including the Smith- sonian Institution, NASA, The U.S. Army and Navy, The Armed Forces Institutes of Pathology and Radiobiology Research, Parks Canada, Penn State University, the University of Wyoming and The College of William and Mary. In develop- ing procedures, it was essential that every type of evidence be collected and properly scheduled so that one scientist’s actions would not compromise the evidence needed by another. Named “Project Lead Coffins,” the investigation had three main goals of attempting to identify the individuals, learn as much about 17th-century life and health as possible from them and obtain data about the natural environment from the coffins.25
Work began by reopening the original exca- vation pit, which had uncovered only half of each coffin. High frequency gamma rays were used to take photographs through the lead coffins with special film donated by Eastman Kodak. These revealed that the coffins were constructed in two layers, with an outer lead shell and an interior wooden coffin. The team then drilled into the coffins with a specially designed device to extract air samples from the coffins for NASA. The hope was to obtain original 17th-century air. Only the large coffin appeared to still be sealed and analy- sis of its air revealed a puzzling mix of gases. The reason for this would have to wait until the buri- als were better understood. Archaeologists then recorded the soil profile over the coffins, discov- ering that the two larger coffins had been buried at the same time while the small coffin was later, since its burial shaft cut through the earlier fill. Once this soil was excavated, the coffins were ful- ly uncovered for the first time since they had been buried. Using a custom-built lifting apparatus de- signed by engineers, each coffin was then raised from its resting place and taken into an adjacent U.S. Army field hospital tent for opening. The sequence began with the smallest coffin to test the procedures, then the middle and finally the largest and heaviest coffin was raised.
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