The rocks are a volcanic variety found in the 

 Caribbean and in France. A Caribbean 

 identity wouldn't add anything conclusive to 

 the story. But if analysis shows minerals 

 unique to Nantes, France, where the 

 Concorde first floated, the ballast could 

 point to Blackbeard. 



"If we do identify them as being 

 French in origin, that would be an important 

 clue as well," says Crow. 



While awaiting results of such studies 

 and combing archives for more overlooked 



we'd expect to find Queen Anne 's Re- 

 venge" Crow says. 



A pewter syringe brought up last fall 

 could be the renowned pirate's mark. 

 Blackbeard had blockaded Charleston's 

 port for a week before heading up the coast 

 toward Beaufort. 



"One of the things he was trying to 

 secure was medical supplies for his crew," 

 Crow says. Some accounts say syphilis was 

 widespread among the men. 



A pair of chart dividers, also brought 



Transfer of the cannon requires patience and precision. 



uriesy of The News & Observer 



records, experts contend everything they 

 know so far supports the theory the wreck is 

 what's left of Queen Anne 's Revenge. And 

 nothing contradicts it. All items identified so 

 far predate the 1 7 1 8 sinking. 



The bronze bell, one of the first items 

 brought to the surface, is inscribed with the 

 date 1709, and the name IHS Maria. 

 Historians theorize the foot-tall bell was 

 taken from a captured vessel or a plundered 

 port town. Pewter dishes made by London 

 pewterer George Hammond date to the early 

 1700s. Two onion-shaped English wine 

 bottles are circa 1714. 



"That puts us precisely in the period 



up in 1998, is identical to the navigational 

 tool in use today. Others instruments 

 recovered are not so recognizable. 



"We aren't altogether sure what they 

 are," Crow says. "Some probably have to 

 do with navigation." Many items might 

 have been common aboard any ship of the 

 times, Crow cautions. 



"We can't say that these were 

 Blackbeard' s," Crow says. "But they give 

 us important evidence we hope to develop 

 further." 



Historians also are studying what is left 

 underwater and its positioning. The 

 compact debris field indicates the ship sank 



steadily, as one aground would do, rather 

 than tearing apart in a storm. The smallest 

 of three anchors, set 400 feet south of the 

 site, suggests the long-ago sailors tried to 

 kedge off the sandbar. 



The anchors are large enough to 

 eliminate the possibility that the wreck is 

 Adventure, Blackbeard' s smaller sloop 

 that sank at the same time, possibly while 

 assisting Queen Anne 's Re\>enge. Adven- 

 ture has not been found. 



Hurricane Bonnie in August 1998 

 reburied some of the wreck, but it also 

 exposed a 27-by-8-foot section of hull. The 

 timber is perfectly preserved by decades in 

 the sand. 



"You can see the grain work. You can 

 see the little wooden pegs," says Mark 

 Wilde-Ramsey of the N.C. Underwater 

 Archeology Unit, who led the 1998 dive 

 project. 



The wood could fill in several blanks 

 in the shipwreck's story. It will be analyzed 

 and carbon-dated, and the hull shape will 

 be studied for signs the holds were 

 designed for human cargo. The 90-foot 

 Concorde was built of white oak in about 

 1713 as a slave ship, records say. The 

 three-masted ship had a carrying capacity 

 of 200 tons, a 25-foot beam and a draft of 

 121/2 feet. As Queen Anne 's Revenge, it 

 accommodated 125 to 150 pirates. 



Divers have counted 1 8 cannons so 

 far in the jumbled mass. Their number and 

 varying size are strong testimony the wreck 

 was Blackbeard' s flagship. Queen Anne's 

 Revenge was armed with 40 of the big 

 cast-iron guns. Three have been brought up 

 for conservation. 



'It almost seems like anywhere you 

 go out there and dig, you find cannons," 

 says Richard Lawrence, head of the 

 underwater archeology unit. Merchant 

 ships of the period probably carried fewer, 

 smaller cannons, experts say, and a naval 

 vessel's firepower would have been more 

 uniform in size. 



Smaller armament also points to 

 pirates. Lead shot, found in large quanti- 

 ties, ranges in caliber from the size of a BB 

 to the diameter of a dime. 



"These could be used in pistols, 



Continued 



COASTWATCH 15 



