kenb
Bronze Member
First coin from Queen Anne's Revenge?
Little object, big find from shipwreck
October 28, 2008 - 6:46PM
By Jannette Pippin
Freedom ENC
One of the smallest artifacts recovered during the latest dive expedition at the shipwreck presumed to be Queen Anne's Revenge is getting big attention.
The circular, dime-sized piece has been resting on the ocean floor for 300 years, but early examination indicates it may be the first coin to come from the site believed to be the flagship of the pirate Blackbeard.
"Just looking at it you can't see what it is, but from an X-ray of it you can see a little image and what looks like a head (of a coin)," QAR Conservation Field Supervisor Wendy Welsh said of the silver piece.
Welsh said a coin weight with a bust of Queen Anne was recovered from the site during a 2006 dive but no actual coins.
Shanna Daniel, assistant conservator at the QAR lab in Greenville, said it will likely be one of the first items from the 2008 dive reviewed at the lab because it could reveal important markings used in confirming important information, such as the time period of the shipwreck.
"I think this is going to be one of our top priorities; it could have a date or something on it," she said.
But the coin wasn't the only artifact of interest.
Also among this year's finds are a guard for a dagger or small sword, pieces of pewter plates, shards of ceramic, grinding stone fragments, cannon ball and hundreds of concretions containing artifacts yet to be uncovered.
Some of the artifacts recovered from this year's dive, which ends Friday, will be available for the public to view Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the N.C. Maritime Museum in Beaufort. The museum is the repository for the conserved artifacts from the QAR site and currently has three cannons as well as other already conserved items on display.
Inclement weather has cut this year's dive expedition back to six weeks rather than eight, and plans to raise a 12th cannon from the shipwreck site on Tuesday were hampered by weather conditions as well.
The QAR team hopes to bring the cannon up later in the week but it wasn't possible in time for today's public viewing of the artifacts.
Archaeologists know the vessel was well-armed. A total of 25 cannon have been identified and 11 recovered to date.
What Chris Southerly, archaeological field supervisor for the QAR project, finds interesting is what they don't normally see: the personal affects and arms the crew would likely have taken with them when they abandoned the ship.
The dagger guard, he said, is one of those items that give a little more insight into the people who may have been onboard.
"Artifacts as they exist by themselves are interesting to look at and study, but it's what they tell you, either directly or indirectly, about people that gives you a snapshot of the past; what was maybe on the mind of an 18th century (person) when they ran aground out here," Southerly said.
The QAR project has gained national and international attention since its beginning, and Jeffrey Crow, deputy secretary of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resource's Office of Archives and History, called it "the most important shipwreck that has ever been found in North Carolina waters."
Crow said the project has been a stimulus for heritage tourism and noted the strong attendance at the N.C. Maritime Museum, which is the repository for QAR artifacts and has featured Blackbeard and pirate exhibits.
"Just since August, when the museum opened its new exhibit, Knights of the Black Flag, more than 50,000 people have come through the museum and total visitation is now at least 250,000," Crow said. "Those are great indicators of the importance of the museum and our underwater archaeology folks."
Following Crow's comments, an unusual artifact from the QAR project was transferred to the museum for its use. The lead object was apparently flattened after the shipwreck but was once a tubular piece of a toilet and ran from the "seat of ease" and out of the ship to the water.
The artifact was recovered from the shipwreck in 2005 and has now been fully conserved and can be displayed.
This is the third season of full excavation at the QAR sites. With the conclusion of the 2008 field dive, about 50 percent of the shipwreck's footprint will be completed.
kenb
Little object, big find from shipwreck
October 28, 2008 - 6:46PM
By Jannette Pippin
Freedom ENC
One of the smallest artifacts recovered during the latest dive expedition at the shipwreck presumed to be Queen Anne's Revenge is getting big attention.
The circular, dime-sized piece has been resting on the ocean floor for 300 years, but early examination indicates it may be the first coin to come from the site believed to be the flagship of the pirate Blackbeard.
"Just looking at it you can't see what it is, but from an X-ray of it you can see a little image and what looks like a head (of a coin)," QAR Conservation Field Supervisor Wendy Welsh said of the silver piece.
Welsh said a coin weight with a bust of Queen Anne was recovered from the site during a 2006 dive but no actual coins.
Shanna Daniel, assistant conservator at the QAR lab in Greenville, said it will likely be one of the first items from the 2008 dive reviewed at the lab because it could reveal important markings used in confirming important information, such as the time period of the shipwreck.
"I think this is going to be one of our top priorities; it could have a date or something on it," she said.
But the coin wasn't the only artifact of interest.
Also among this year's finds are a guard for a dagger or small sword, pieces of pewter plates, shards of ceramic, grinding stone fragments, cannon ball and hundreds of concretions containing artifacts yet to be uncovered.
Some of the artifacts recovered from this year's dive, which ends Friday, will be available for the public to view Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the N.C. Maritime Museum in Beaufort. The museum is the repository for the conserved artifacts from the QAR site and currently has three cannons as well as other already conserved items on display.
Inclement weather has cut this year's dive expedition back to six weeks rather than eight, and plans to raise a 12th cannon from the shipwreck site on Tuesday were hampered by weather conditions as well.
The QAR team hopes to bring the cannon up later in the week but it wasn't possible in time for today's public viewing of the artifacts.
Archaeologists know the vessel was well-armed. A total of 25 cannon have been identified and 11 recovered to date.
What Chris Southerly, archaeological field supervisor for the QAR project, finds interesting is what they don't normally see: the personal affects and arms the crew would likely have taken with them when they abandoned the ship.
The dagger guard, he said, is one of those items that give a little more insight into the people who may have been onboard.
"Artifacts as they exist by themselves are interesting to look at and study, but it's what they tell you, either directly or indirectly, about people that gives you a snapshot of the past; what was maybe on the mind of an 18th century (person) when they ran aground out here," Southerly said.
The QAR project has gained national and international attention since its beginning, and Jeffrey Crow, deputy secretary of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resource's Office of Archives and History, called it "the most important shipwreck that has ever been found in North Carolina waters."
Crow said the project has been a stimulus for heritage tourism and noted the strong attendance at the N.C. Maritime Museum, which is the repository for QAR artifacts and has featured Blackbeard and pirate exhibits.
"Just since August, when the museum opened its new exhibit, Knights of the Black Flag, more than 50,000 people have come through the museum and total visitation is now at least 250,000," Crow said. "Those are great indicators of the importance of the museum and our underwater archaeology folks."
Following Crow's comments, an unusual artifact from the QAR project was transferred to the museum for its use. The lead object was apparently flattened after the shipwreck but was once a tubular piece of a toilet and ran from the "seat of ease" and out of the ship to the water.
The artifact was recovered from the shipwreck in 2005 and has now been fully conserved and can be displayed.
This is the third season of full excavation at the QAR sites. With the conclusion of the 2008 field dive, about 50 percent of the shipwreck's footprint will be completed.
kenb
