[Eleven] From Ship to Kindling to Ship Te Digital Reconstruction of the Royal Savage Timber Assemblage Jonathan Crise, Ben Ford, and George Schwarz Royal Savage is an important physical link to one of the seminal events of early U.S. Revolutionary War history (Figure 17). Tis impor- tance drew the attention of an interested public long before archae- ological science and ethics were advanced enough to provide for the long-term preservation of the hull and its artifacts. Te result was a collection of disassociated timbers and artifacts that several institutions wanted to own, but which never received the interpre- tation they deserved. Now, using state-of-the-art three-dimensional imaging technology, it is possible to regain some of the information that was lost. In addition to contributing to the generation of a tim- ber catalog, 3d documentation of the Royal Savage timbers via laser scanning and photogrammetry provides a visually appealing, per- manent, and versatile record of the physical characteristics of the ship’s remains. Te resulting digital models are permanent in that, as visual reproductions, and if stored and managed appropriately, they will remain impervious to the physical decay to which the actual remains of the ship have and will continue to be subjected. As such, they will also remain available to continued and varied analyses to which the physical remains cannot be subjected, both as individ- ual timbers and, when digitally reconstructed, as a partially intact hull. Similar methods have been applied to a wide variety of collec- tions (Virtual Curation Laboratory 2017). From a technological per- spective, the models produced are demonstrative of an alternative methodology for terrestrial 3d laser scanning of individual objects Allen-Ford.indd 245 11/15/18 10:47 AM