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TOTAL FINDS
In the process of cleaning one attempt was made to clean a ferrous item (a
non-diagnostic lump of forged iron) by washing with distilled water after the
majority of adhering soil had been removed by brushing with a nylon
toothbrush. Upon drying the item disintegrated into a number of fragments.
No further attempt was made to clean ferrous items using water. After
cleaning by mechanical means alone they were brushed with a 5% solution
in acetone of Paraloid B73 as a means of interim conservation. As has
already been mentioned, analysis of the soil at Chinaman's Well found it to
be highly alkaline, and to contain a high proportion of chlorides.
Disintegration of the ferrous item was most probably due to it having
become impregnated with chlorides. Salt crystals formed within the
material after the wetting and subsequent drying of the item, the formation
of the crystals perhaps caused disintegration. This would be partly in
keeping with a discussion by Sanford (1975) of the disintegration of iron
cannonballs recovered from the sea.
Copper items were also cleaned by brushing. Buttons and other items
which could be satisfactorily dried after a process of wetting were also
subjected to washing with distilled water. Any item, such as a crushed
opium tin, which presented a more complex cleaning task, was cleaned by
dry brushing alone. Ceramic material and glass was generally immersed in
water and allowed to soak for a period before cleaning, once again by use
of a nylon or hair brush.
The percentage of items comprised of the most common materials, and the
numbers of items involved was as follows:
Material Chinaman's Well Chinaman's Garden
Well
Percentage #finds Percentage #finds
Glass 42.2% 62 50.0% 278
Ferrous 25.9% 38 23.6% 131
Cuprous 16.3% 24 7.9% 44
Fine Stoneware 4.8% 7 1.1% 6
Vitreous Stoneware 5.4% 8 0.9% 5
Red Earthenware 2.7% 4 6.1% 34
Appendices H and I provide additional details.
Site features and the artefactual material collected have been subjected to
detailed analysis. Spatial distribution of the material and of structural
remnants was studied with the objective of identifying features mentioned
in the historical record and unrecorded features, and to develop theories
regarding the method of deposition and degree of post-depositional
disturbance. The assemblage of artefactual material was studied to
develop hypotheses regarding the nature of activities undertaken at