Technological examination of copper bolts from the Deltebre I (1813) site by means of texture measurements

In June 1813, several ships from a combined fleet that unsuccessfully tried to liberate Tarragona from Napoleonic forces ran aground in the Ebro Delta (Catalonia coast, Spain). One, a British transport is currently the subject of research by the Catalan Centre for Underwater Archeology. In this context, crystallographic texture analyses of the bolts used to fasten different wooden components of the hull’s structure can shed light on some aspects of the technology used during the early stage of industrialization in Britain. Specifically, spatially resolved neutron texture analyses offer a great advantage to understanding metal objects’ manufacturing routes. The main aim of this project is to perform spatially resolved neutron texture analysis on four copper bolts used to fasten different wooden components of the hull’s structure recovered from the Deltebre I site.