News From the Department
Cannon Recovery Planned At Shipwreck Site
For more information
contact Mark Wilde-Ramsing at (252) 726-6841, ext 169 or
Fay Mitchell Henderson at (919) 807-7389.
(RALEIGH—Oct. 3) – State underwater archaeologists are taking advantage of the so far calm hurricane season for the largest artifact recovery to date that will include fours cannon from the presumed shipwreck of the Queen Anne’s Revenge (QAR), flagship of the notorious pirate Blackbeard. Hurricanes and nor’easters have disturbed artifacts in years past and smaller objects particularly need to be rescued from the sea.
A six-week dive began on Monday, Oct. 2, at the shipwreck site just a few miles offshore near Beaufort, N.C. Led by archaeologists with the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources, the team of archaeologists, historians and conservators will begin the most extensive recovery project since the shipwreck’s discovery in November 1996 by Intersal, Inc., a Florida based research firm. Intersal President Phil Masters reached an agreement giving management of the site to the State of North Carolina in 1997.
“We hope to begin the complete recovery of artifacts from the shipwreck site with this fall’s dive,” explains QAR Project Director Mark Wilde-Ramsing. “Thousands of artifacts remain at the shipwreck, and this invaluable resource is in danger of being lost. We plan to recover 7,000 objects containing artifacts.”
The expanded recovery is possible because of additional state funding of $247,000 for positions and for enhancements to the QAR conservation lab at East Carolina University in Greenville. Recovered artifacts will be documented at the site then transported to the Greenville lab for conservation.
Represented artifacts recovered include cannons, grenades, platters, flecks of gold, fabric fibers, wine bottles, and hundreds of ballast stones (use to stabilize the ship while at sea). All the artifacts date to the period to support that this is indeed Blackbeard’s flagship, which ran aground in June 1718. The distribution of artifacts covers 7,500 feet of seabed, and the research team will work in five feet by five feet units in an area where pewter plates, wine glasses and lead shot have been recovered.
This is the oldest shipwreck ever found in North Carolina’s waters and offers a wealth of information on 18 th seafaring and possibly Blackbeard himself. For additional information, contact Mark Wilde Ramsing at 252-726-6841, ext. 169, or visit www.qaronline.org. The project is administered by the Office of Archives and History in the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources, a state agency dedicated to the promotion and protection of North Carolina’s arts, history and culture. For more information about the Department of Cultural Resources visit www.ncculture.com.
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