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Christopher M. Dostal

Assistant Professor
Director, Conservation Research Laboratory
Director, Center for Maritime Archaeology and Conservation
Chair, Archaeological Diving Control Board

Frederick R. Mayer Professor of Nautical Archaeology II

Worked at TAMU from 2018-present

Bio

Chris Dostal, a former submarine sailor from the US Navy, received his BA in Anthropology from the University of Colorado in 2011, and his MA (2015) and PhD (2017) in Anthropology with a specialization in Nautical Archaeology from Texas A&M University. Chris has participated in projects in the US, Croatia, and Portugal, and his research focuses on the documentation and conservation of waterlogged cultural heritage materials. At the Conservation Research Laboratory, his main focus has been on the 18th-century ship found below the World Trade Center in Manhattan, the 18th-century ship discovered under the modern waterfront in Alexandria, VA, and the conservation of the cannon from the Castillo de San Marco National Park in St. Augustine, FL.

Selected Publications

  • T. M. Casimiro, C.Dostal, F. Castro, A. Almeida, I. Magalhães, E. Teixeira, and E. Frias-Bulhosa, “Metal Objects Were Much Desired: A Sixteenth-Century Shipwreck Cargo off the Coast of Esposende (Portugal) and the Importance of Studying Ship Cargos,” Journal of Maritime Archaeology 19 (2024), 23–40.
  • C. Dostal, “X-Ray fluorescence as a method of characterizing inorganic pigment patterns in the work of Julian Onderdonk,” Heliyon, 9.10 (2023).
  • C. Kennedy and C. Dostal. “Note de recherche. Shipwrecked at Land’s End: The Gaspé Maritime Archaeology Project 2022 Field Season,” Archéologiques 36 (2023), 17-33.
  • C. Dostal, G. Grieco, P. Fix, C. Kennedy, J. Herbst, L. Schultz, and R. Borrero, “The Documentation and Reconstruction of an 18th-Century Wooden Ship from Alexandria, VA.,” Digital Applications in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage 16 (2020), 1-10.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.daach.2020.e00136
  • G. Grieco, P. Fix, C. Kennedy, J. Herbst, L. Shultz, R. Borrero, and C. Dostal, “Integrating digital and conventional recording techniques for the documentation and reconstruction of an 18th-Century wooden ship from Alexandria, VA.,” Digital Applications in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage 16 (2020).
  • C. Dostal and K. Yamafune,” Photogrammetric Texture Mapping: A Method for Increasing the Fidelity of 3D Models of Cultural Heritage Materials,” Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 18 (2018), 430-436
  • F. Castro, C. Bendig, M. Berube, N. Budsberg, C. Dostal, A. Monteiro, C. Smith, R. Torres, and K. Yamafune, “Recording, Publishing, and Reconstructing Wooden Shipwrecks,” Journal of Maritime Archaeology 13 (2018), 55-66.

Contact

Office: Anthropology 102
Email: dostalc@tamu.edu

Courses Taught

  • ANTH 605 – Conservation of Archaeological Resources I
  • ANTH 606 – Conservation of Archaeological Resources II
  • ANTH 617 – Conservation III–Preservation of Organic Materials
  • ANTH 663 – Analytical Methods in Archaeology and Conservation

Students Supervised

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