- May 20, 2004
- 1,721
- 151
- Detector(s) used
- Minelab Excal 1000
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
Mexican archeologists reported on Monday that porcelain plates and other artifacts found amid shifting coastal dunes in Baja California could be part of the wreckage of one of the earliest galleons that plied the route from the Philippines to Mexico, once Spanish colonies
Wire services
El Universal
Martes 27 de febrero de 2007
Mexican archeologists reported on Monday that porcelain plates and other artifacts found amid shifting coastal dunes in Baja California could be part of the wreckage of one of the earliest galleons that plied the route from the Philippines to Mexico, once Spanish colonies.
Seals and other markings on some of the estimated 1,000 fragments of porcelain plates found so far indicate they were made in China in the late 1500s, said archaeologist Luz María Mejía of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), who was involved in the investigation.
The site, near the port of Ensenada, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of the U.S. border, is covered by shifting sand dunes that cover and uncover artifacts, and have apparently been doing so for centuries. Investigators spent several years searching the dunes.
The San Diego Maritime Museum has been cooperating in the research.
Jesuit missionaries, who were among the first to establish settlements on the Baja California peninsula in the 1700s, reported finding porcelain and wax in the area.
While early Spanish galleons — which began plying the Pacific route in the 1560s — were headed for the port of Acapulco, far to the south, it was common for sailing ships of the era to catch favorable winds that would bring them near the coast further north, around the California coast. They would then hug the coast as they traveled south to Acapulco.
While researchers have not yet pinpointed the origin of the artifacts, they believe they are the result of a shipwreck, although none has been found. That view is supported by results from metal detectors and other devices that have detected "anomalous" areas off the coast that could be a shipwreck site.
Spanish ships regularly shipped eastern trade goods from the Philippines to Mexico.
Wire services
El Universal
Martes 27 de febrero de 2007
Mexican archeologists reported on Monday that porcelain plates and other artifacts found amid shifting coastal dunes in Baja California could be part of the wreckage of one of the earliest galleons that plied the route from the Philippines to Mexico, once Spanish colonies.
Seals and other markings on some of the estimated 1,000 fragments of porcelain plates found so far indicate they were made in China in the late 1500s, said archaeologist Luz María Mejía of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), who was involved in the investigation.
The site, near the port of Ensenada, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of the U.S. border, is covered by shifting sand dunes that cover and uncover artifacts, and have apparently been doing so for centuries. Investigators spent several years searching the dunes.
The San Diego Maritime Museum has been cooperating in the research.
Jesuit missionaries, who were among the first to establish settlements on the Baja California peninsula in the 1700s, reported finding porcelain and wax in the area.
While early Spanish galleons — which began plying the Pacific route in the 1560s — were headed for the port of Acapulco, far to the south, it was common for sailing ships of the era to catch favorable winds that would bring them near the coast further north, around the California coast. They would then hug the coast as they traveled south to Acapulco.
While researchers have not yet pinpointed the origin of the artifacts, they believe they are the result of a shipwreck, although none has been found. That view is supported by results from metal detectors and other devices that have detected "anomalous" areas off the coast that could be a shipwreck site.
Spanish ships regularly shipped eastern trade goods from the Philippines to Mexico.
