Pirate skeletons found in 1717 shipwreck off coast of Cape Cod (Whydah wreck)

[Boatlode]

they both make a living by presenting falsehoods, I do not associate

I'm off to church in a few minutes. I'll say a prayer for you.

 

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[liverock]

Bones may last thousands of years. I found ancient manatee bones that are thousands of years old.

millions of years old....as they are fossilized ......used to see them on most every dive....and they are dugong bones...pre manatee! https://www.google.com/search?q=dug...oECAIQCQ&biw=914&bih=432#imgrc=yTd4420vY9i-IM

 

[Red_desert]

Bones may last thousands of years. I found ancient manatee bones that are thousands of years old.

Ancient manatee bones, I know divers on the west coast, who claim they have found them.

 

[whydahdiver]

On this day in 1717, the Whydah sank in Wellfleet Mass. Please do a shot of rum or something similar in their honor.



Thanks,



WD

 

[MiddenMonster]

millions of years old....as they are fossilized ......used to see them on most every dive....and they are dugong bones...pre manatee!

Ancient manatee bones, I know divers on the west coast, who claim they have found them.

Well, here is something that definitely supports those finds:

Florida scuba divers discover 50-pound Ice Age mammoth bone in river

So if the bones of manatees and mammoths can survive tens of thousands of years, pirate bones should be able to hold out for a few hundred. And as an aside, there are a couple of things about this article that really bug me. One is their reference to the mammoth bone "dating back to the Ice Age". Strictly speaking, we are currently in "the Ice Age", and have been for almost 3 million years. It's called the Quaternary Ice Age. What they should have said in the article is that the bone might date back to the Last Glacial Period. We are in an interglacial period now, and since the shortest ice age lasted 40 million years, and most ice ages last 100+ million years we will probably enter another glacial period 25,000-100,000 years from now. Just a peeve of mine. The second thing that bugs me about this article is how does this guy get to keep the bone in his classroom? He's a freaking astronomer! The river is a navigable waterway, so both the state of Florida and the federal government have control over who gets to keep what that comes out of the river. If any of us found a mammoth bone in a river would we get to keep it after boasting about it to the press? Noooooo! We would be investigated and possibly prosecuted if we didn't immediately turn it over the The Man. Of course, if they found treasure I'm sure that all kinds of government hands would reach out to grab it, but still, how does this guy get to sit on this find? If he was a paleontologist I could see him making a case for continued study, but an astronomer? Gimme a break!

 

[Magoopeter]

I do not know why but every time I see this post it makes me think of working on the Mary Rose shipwreck, at the end of the day we used to have a bear on the back end of the ship, one very senior Mary Rose trust archaeologist happen to walk in when one of the lads was telling a joke about a skeleton that was found buried alive behind a stone wall in an old castle,
she remarked “o how awful was there any archaeological evidence to what happened to them or who they were”.
“ well actually there was” said Patrick, “they had a medallion around their neck, it said Irish hide and seek champion”!

 

[MiddenMonster]

I do not know why but every time I see this post it makes me think of working on the Mary Rose shipwreck, at the end of the day we used to have a bear on the back end of the ship, one very senior Mary Rose trust archaeologist happen to walk in when one of the lads was telling a joke about a skeleton that was found buried alive behind a stone wall in an old castle,
she remarked “o how awful was there any archaeological evidence to what happened to them or who they were”.
“ well actually there was” said Patrick, “they had a medallion around their neck, it said Irish hide and seek champion”!

Lucky for you that the Irish enjoy jokes about themselves, though usually they are jokes about drinking and fighting...

 

[ARC]

“We hope that modern, cutting-edge technology will help us identify these pirates and reunite them with any descendants who could be out there”

Who would claim them? I wouldn't want anybody to know I had a pirate in my family.

No crap... heh

BUT... Even as we see here... People "glorify & romanticize" piracy as if it were something to be.

Bet they would not feel the same if it were their home / ship about to be boarded.

Many need to drop the "Hollywood" and come to grips with reality... err ... or just plain get real in the head.

Kinda like 200 years from now excavating a maximum security prison yard.

Pirates are cool to many... FROM a distance... dont think they would have felt the same up close.

heh

 

[ARC]

On this day in 1717, the Whydah sank in Wellfleet Mass. Please do a shot of rum or something similar in their honor.



Thanks,



WD

Drink to the fact they are gone.

 

[Boatlode]

No crap... heh

BUT... Even as we see here... People "glorify & romanticize" piracy as if it were something to be.

Bet they would not feel the same if it were their home / ship about to be boarded.

Many need to drop the "Hollywood" and come to grips with reality... err ... or just plain get real in the head.

Kinda like 200 years from now excavating a maximum security prison yard.

Pirates are cool to many... FROM a distance... dont think they would have felt the same up close.

heh

Exactly. Real pirates were horrible people, some worse than others. Teach (Blackbeard) for example, was an evil, evil man, a true monster.

 

[MiddenMonster]

Pirates are cool to many... FROM a distance... dont think they would have felt the same up close.

I'm thinking the same is probably true for most seafaring people at the time. It was one of the roughest professions around, little need for being of pleasant disposition, the living conditions were terrible and the pay generally sucked. Not really the kind of life that attracts people you want to meet and get to know. I equate it to being on the space station for 6+ months at a time. The stench alone would possibly be the biggest shock to your senses you've ever had. And with space being the "final frontier" I imagine the first century or so of serious space travel will be very similar to what life on the sea was 300 years ago. I couldn't have survived life on the sea back then, and though I see Star Trek level space travel as something I would like, the truth is that no matter how high tech, modern and luxurious it is, life on a space ship like that would still be like living on a submarine.

 

[ARC]

Oh and i meant to comment upon the original posting...

"very sacred ground".

Does the person stating this even realize what the phrase "sacred ground" even means ?

 

[BillA]

that's easy
sacred ground = treasure, dig a big hole here
but archies only (the approved treasure hunter's)

 

[BillA]

probably European

 

[Boatlode]

I'm thinking the same is probably true for most seafaring people at the time.

Wrong. The vast majority of sailors were not murderers and thieves.

 

[MiddenMonster]

Wrong. The vast majority of sailors were not murderers and thieves.

Uh, the comment to which I was replying was about pirates being cool from a distance, but not up close. And I stand by my comment. Sailors who were cool to be up close with in the 18th century probably ended up doing more than their share of time in the barrel...

 

[AuroraScout]

So, from what I have read thus far in these forums.. I have a question. I plan on doing a lot of diving in rivers, lakes, and the ocean. If I happen to come across something of historical value, and it is on A) state / Fed land, or B) out in the open ocean... what would be your opinions on the 'correct' vs. 'legal' way of going about harvesting any artifacts? The last thing I want to do is come across a great find, and have the greedy hands of the state/NOAA handing me tons of fines for not 'correctly' going about things.

PS: I'm pretty libertarian, if that helps anything :P

Thanks!

 

[Mackaydon]

IMO, a libertarian attitude while hunting for treasure, especially in the sea, may end up costing you more than money; like your freedom.
Do the research, clearly understand the risks and the legal process before you 'harvest artifacts'.
Don...

 

[AuroraScout]

Thanks Don, hence why I am posting here.. hoping to gather further information beyond the simple "Abandoned Shipwreck Act" passed in '87. Diving around New England can uncover many wrecks never before found, as well as their cargo. I'm simply asking for advice on whether or not anybody else has actual experience and what their thoughts are on the above posted inquiry.

"Harvesting artifacts" such as silver or gold coins on a wreck that is hundreds of years old, in my opinion; isn't something that the politicians have any claim over.. hence the libertarian comment.

 

[MiddenMonster]

"Harvesting artifacts" such as silver or gold coins on a wreck that is hundreds of years old, in my opinion; isn't something that the politicians have any claim over.. hence the libertarian comment.

They may not have any claim over them, but unfortunately they do have the power of law over them. And that power of law extends to agreements and treaties with other countries that form a web of hassle for the common man. So if you're not careful that web will come back and bite you in the hiney, and it's gonna hurt.