Blackbeard's anchor recovered off N.C. coast

[Captain Jack Wolfe]

MOREHEAD CITY, N.C. - An anchor from what's believed to be the wreck of the pirate Blackbeard's flagship has been raised from the ocean floor off the North Carolina coast.
Archaeologists believe the anchor recovered Friday is from the Queen Anne's Revenge, which sank in 1718. That was five months before Blackbeard was killed in a battle.

The artifact is the third-largest item at the shipwreck, outsized only by two other anchors.

Researchers retrieved the anchor from the shipwreck about 20 feet under water and were bringing it to shore. The work to retrieve it began last week. The anchor is about 11 feet long.

Link to the article is here: Anchor from Blackbeard's Queen Anne's Revenge recovered

Additional coverage: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=13705783, http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20110527/ARTICLES/110529703?Title=-Queen-Anne-s-Revenge-anchor-hauled-to-the-surface

For those unfamiliar with the QAR Project, information on the archaeological investigation and recovery efforts can be found here: http://www.qaronline.org/education/ecureport.htm

[Welsh Wench]

Oh..WOW!
That is fantastic!

Quoted here--
The anchor is 11 feet, 4 inches long with arms that are 7 feet, 7 inches across. It was covered with concretion — a mixture of shells, sand and other debris attracted by the leaching wrought iron — and a few sea squirts. Its weight was estimated at 2,500 to 3,000 pounds.

Pirates Magazine Issue #11 had a fantastic behind the scenes look at the consrevaton lab at the NC Maritime Museum. And over 250,00 artifacts have been recovered.

[Welsh Wench]

Sea squirts? 

[Captain Jack Wolfe]

Sea squirts.  



About 2 inches in length on average.

[Welsh Wench]

And it even has its own light saber!

'I am your father, squirt. Come to the dark side. I have....jelly.'

[NoBill Lurker]

And it even has its own light saber!

'I am your father, squirt. Come to the dark side. I have....jelly.'

[DonaCatalina]

I haven't seen anything in the news about what they found under the anchor. Anyone???

[Welsh Wench]

Dona, this is the only thing I saw--

The anchor was atop a pile of debris, which appears to be the remnants of the middle part of the ship, including its cargo hold, said Mark Wilde-Ramsing, a deputy state archaeologist and director of the Queen Anne's Revenge project.

Next week, Wilde-Ramsing said, researchers hope to dig a small test hole into the side of the pile where the anchor was removed to get a sense of what else might be hidden there. They're particularly keen to find organic material such as seeds and spores that could help detail the pirates' stops in exotic ports.

Seemingly mundane objects such as seeds, spoons and tools can be more valuable than gems and doubloons to archaeologists, because they can open new windows into pirate life, which is the whole point of the 14-year-old recovery effort and the museum exhibit

The only remaining parts of the ship — the wooden hull structure, ribs and a plank — are at the bottom of the pile, protected by ballast that kept the ship upright. Six cannon and three other anchors are also in the pile.