Don Keith at the Corpus Christi Museum (Ships of Discovery) has done
some work in the Turks and Caicos Islands with grafitti from several
centuries of shipwreck victims on bedrock outcrops there.  He may be
currently still on the Island of Grand Turk where he and others just
rode out Hurricane Frances, so it could be a while before you hear from him.

Norma Harris
University of West Florida Archaeology



Elizabeth Hoag wrote:

>Dear list members,
>   I am writing to see if anyone has any advice or information for the
>photographic documentation of historic (19th century) grafitti. A colleague
>and I want to take pictures and document some inscriptions (names and
>dates) and some simple drawings that have been carved into an outcropping
>of bedrock. Many of them are very faint, either due to the way they were
>carved or the deteriation of the rock face itself over the last century.
>The rock is actually exposed bedrock, so it is flat on the ground surface,
>subject to people walking on it and the elements (to date there is no fence
>or other way to keep people off the rock; most probably don't even realize
>that there are historical markings on the rock!)There is already a large
>section of the rock face that has spauled off.
>   I have searched the archives of this listserv, and saw references to
>gravestone photography and documentation, but nothing for historic grafitti
>and carvings/inscriptions. I plan to use a digital camera so that I can
>modify the color settings to increase the contrast when I get home. Any
>other suggestions would be most welcome. Thank you very much for your time,
>
>Sincerely,
>Elizabeth Hoag
>PhD candidate,
>Department of Anthropology
>SUNY ALbany
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