Illuminating Humanities: Alyssa Carpenter
Highlighting Humanities Research and its Impact
Alyssa Carpenter | Anthropology
by Megan Bodily
Alyssa Carpenter, Texas A&M University Maritime Archaeology and Conservation master’s student with a cannon at the Conservation Research Lab
The Glasscock Center is excited to continue its series that highlights humanities research at Texas A&M and the vital role played by the humanities at the university and in the world beyond the academy.
For this highlight, we invite Maritime Archaeology and Conservation master’s student Alyssa Carpenter to tell us about her research with Texas A&M University’s Conservation Research Lab (CRL).
Alyssa Carpenter is a Maritime Archaeology and Conservation master’s student in the Anthropology Department at Texas A&M University. Her master’s thesis seeks to identify and contextualize still-loaded 18th century cannons recovered from the Savannah River in Georgia. Carpenter’s path in conservation was unexpected since she began her undergraduate studies as a genetics major at Texas A&M. After switching to anthropology, Carpenter enrolled in an artifact conservation course, which sparked her interest by giving her hands-on experience in conserving actual artifacts.
“I just loved [conservation] and it’s always been in the back of my mind even after I did other internships and job positions,” she says. “Nothing compared to how I felt in conservation, so I applied for my master’s program and I’ve focused on conservation ever since.”
In 2021, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers located a number of American Revolutionary War-era artifacts, called the Cannon Cluster Site, while dredging the Savannah River in Georgia. The Cannon Cluster Site included twenty guns, seventeen of which were sent for conservation at Texas A&M’s Conservation Research Lab (CRL). Importantly, most of the cannons sent to the CRL were still loaded, meaning that they contained the original cannonballs, junk wads, and gunpowder cartridges in their bores, the hollow part of the gun.
“The fact that we have [bore contents] basically in a time capsule which preserved their entire state is rare,” Carpenter says. “We still have gunpowder and that to me is just mind blowing.”
Alyssa Carpenter measuring a cannon in Renews, Newfoundland, in summer of 2024
Though the origin of the cannons remain unknown, archival research indicates that several vessels were sunk in the Savannah River during the American Revolutionary War. It is possible that these cannons are from the British vessels Savannah and Venus. Further analysis is being done on the cannons themselves to identify their origins and if this theory proves true. In historical documents, Savannah is listed as having fourteen cannons but, unlike other ships, where they were cast was not identified. Carpenter and her team have been interpreting the details from the cannons and their bore contents, and comparing their findings with archives in order to identify where the cannons came from. Her work has taken her around the globe to both London and Newfoundland, where she found cannons with similar markings.
Incredibly, six fully intact gunpowder cartridges were recovered from the cannons. Gunpowder cartridges rarely survive in maritime environments because they were made out of paper, in this case made from linen. Presented with this unique opportunity, Carpenter spent a semester determining how they were folded as part of her research. Not only was she able to identify that the gunpowder cartridges were folded similarly to how modern-day presents are wrapped, but she was also able to link a unique cut on one of the cartridges to a document from the 1800s.
“I wanted to figure out how they folded it, why did they fold it this way, and then make a replica out of similar materials,” she says. “I was looking at the actual papers that were recovered and finding tiny details that could tell the holistic story.”
Carpenter’s approach to archaeology and conservation centers not only on the artifact at hand but also on the context surrounding the artifact’s creation, use, and eventual obsolescence.
“When you’re taking out the bore contents, you’re the first to unload them in 250 years…and I think about what conditions they were loaded in the first place because it appears [the cannons at CRL] were loaded to fire quickly and now we’re delicately taking [the borecontents] out and conserving them,” Carpenter says. “So it puts you in that mindset of how do they even get here in the first place and who’s involved…I’ve been really focused on the people without even realizing that I am.”
For Carpenter, there is a personal connection. She is a member of Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and is a direct descendant from soldiers who fought in Georgia during the war.
Carpenter’s research also focuses on the digital documentation of the cannons, including laser scanning and publishing the 3D models online. The scans play a key part in answering Carpenter’s research question, but they also serve a larger purpose.
“I wanted to digitally document [the cannons] so someone around the world can use those scans because we’re more powerful if we share knowledge,” Carpenter says. “A lot of history is just quite literally being erased so I want to document as much as I can, even if I can’t do the holistic analysis for every single piece…I want to document the existence of [these artifacts] so another person can come along and take over.”
In addition to her research on the cannons recovered from the Savannah River, Carpenter has had the opportunity to work on other preservation projects, such as an Alamo Cannon that started growing a white, chalky substance on its surface. Recently, Carpenter was also asked to join the team working to reassemble and reconstruct the World Trade Center Ship at Texas A&M. The team will stabilize and treat the ship’s timbers which have been in long-term wet storage at the CRL since 2011. For Carpenter, working on the project is an important opportunity in her professional development.
“This is the first time I’ve really worked with wooden timbers…a lot of my other [conservation] experiences were with guns and smaller objects like buttons or glass,” she says. “We’re taught how to conserve wood in class but it’s different when you physically do it.”
After graduation, Carpenter plans to continue to pursue conservation-based projects and museum work. The valuable skill set she has gained through her graduate program can be applied to other artifacts around the world. She will expand upon her thesis topic as a co-author on the final report for the Cannon Cluster Site.
“I like to get information out there, creating a connection with whoever watches, and showing all the research that I’ve done,” she says. “I’m not doing it for me…I’m doing it for the future.”