Page 88 - Loss of the VOC Retourschip Batavia, Western Australia, 1629

Gorgets
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A large concretion containing a number of gorgets was found on the sile in 1970. The concretion was subsequently broken open and a series of leather gorget padding was removed (Figs 38 and 39). Since the iron concretion was quite fragile, only the impression of the outer layers of the gorgets survived. At the time, efforts were concentraled on recovery of the leather and on making silicon rubber impressions of the gorgets. Unfortunately, during this process the concretion was badly damaged. In 1987, the remaining concretion was reassembled in an attempt to try andreconslruct the original. It seems that at least 85-90% of the concretion survives today and much of the original arrangement can be determined. There were four rows of gorgets, each gorget placed inside the next, about len per row, with the fronts all on one side and the rears on the other. They were all roughly the same shape, but there were two basic types, one highly decorated, the other plain with some minor variation in design . There were traces of wood around the concretion, indicating that they were originally packed in a box.
When the concretion was broken open, the shoulder joints between the front and rear of the gorget, were damaged and, as a result, it is difficult to reconstruct how the gorget was put on and fastened. Usually, gorgets are made in one piece, with an open part at one shoulder. The neck of the gorget opened slightly by unfastening the shoulder joint so that it could be placed over the head. It was then closed and fastened at the shoulder with a fastening or clip. It is likely that these gorgets were fastened in the same way.
It must be remembered that the only available evidence of the design of the gorgets comes from the impression in the concretion of the ouler-most front and rear parts of the gorgets, together with the small sections of the lower parts of the successive gorgets that were stacked one inside the other. There is evidence for a!least five decorated gorgets, the rest being plain with varying styles of ornamentation. The studs were used to attach the leather to the rim of the gorget. A narrow strip of leather was first applied along the inside edges. The studs were driven through from the outside and used to attach the leather strips to the gorge~ a small, square washer was applied over the end of the stem of the stud and then riveled to hold the leather fmnly in place. The leather inside cover was then sewn to the ouler edges of the leather strips.
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