Real pirate bones

Great post thanks.

BTW... you working Whydah ?
 

Ya know... it would be really cool if this was Bellamy... whenever I think of him I think of ...

"I am sorry they won't let you have your sloop again, for I scorn to do any one a mischief, when it is not to my advantage; damn the sloop, we must sink her, and she might be of use to you. Though you are a sneaking puppy, and so are all those who will submit to be governed by laws which rich men have made for their own security; for the cowardly whelps have not the courage otherwise to defend what they get by knavery; but damn ye altogether: damn them for a pack of crafty rascals, and you, who serve them, for a parcel of hen-hearted numbskulls. They vilify us, the scoundrels do, when there is only this difference, they rob the poor under the cover of law, forsooth, and we plunder the rich under the protection of our own courage. Had you not better make then one of us, than sneak after these villains for employment?"

[Beer replied that his conscience would not let him break the laws of God and man, and Bellamy continued]

"You are a devilish conscience rascal! I am a free prince, and I have as much authority to make war on the whole world as he who has a hundred sail of ships at sea and an army of 100,000 men in the field; and this my conscience tells me! But there is no arguing with such snivelling puppies, who allow superiors to kick them about deck at pleasure."

— Captain Bellamy, quoted by Captain Charles Johnson (1724), A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates
 

Whydahdiver we found a lot of bone fragments and teeth on the Atocha main ballast pile area when I worked there. That's because we were using an airlift dredge and we would bring up all the sand down to bedrock and run it through sifting screens. One of our crew would take zip lock bags filled with shells and bone to give as gifts to the ladies in Key West. He was very popular.
 

I am interesting in pirate treasure, but, not digging up pirates bones. Each to their own. Good hunting and good luck.
 

Barry Clifford is a brilliant promoter. It wasn't all that long ago he was in the news claiming to have found a silver bar that "might" have belonged to Capt. Kidd.

For anyone interested in "the other side" of the Whydah story I recommend Walking the Plank; A True Adventure Among Pirates by Stephen Kiesling (1994). It is eye-opening!

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo
 

Salvor6 said:
Whydahdiver we found a lot of bone fragments and teeth on the Atocha main ballast pile area when I worked there. That's because we were using an airlift dredge and we would bring up all the sand down to bedrock and run it through sifting screens. One of our crew would take zip lock bags filled with shells and bone to give as gifts to the ladies in Key West. He was very popular.
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One would think someone in your position would have more respect for those residing in Davey Jones' locker. Hopefully you won't end up in a baggie, used as a pick-up line.
 

Old Buckaroo... A pistol found next to the body / skeleton has been identified as being one of Bellamy's guns.
 

Kray Gelder said:
One would think someone in your position would have more respect for those residing in Davey Jones' locker. Hopefully you won't end up in a baggie, used as a pick-up line.
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Kray I never collected bones and questioned the legality of the crew member that did. The Fishers didn't seem to mind.
 

It's against the law to do anything in Maryland, where I live. Good thing the ship's not here.
 

Salvor6 said:
Kray I never collected bones and questioned the legality of the crew member that did. The Fishers didn't seem to mind.
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I accept that. Finding humor in the remains of victims of the sea just really touched a nerve. Good luck to you in your endeavors.
 

AARC: Forgive me if I take that "identification" with - well, I just read the phrase in a 19th century newspaper article about a lost mine - "cum grano salis."

As I recall the account, Capt. Southack was presented with a bill from the local coroner who'd buried the bodies of a hundred pirates in a common grave.

Whidah Chart.jpg

My apologies that the chart is upside down! It's a quirk in the TN software - I can't turn it right side up.

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo
 

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Salvor6 said:
Kray I never collected bones and questioned the legality of the crew member that did. The Fishers didn't seem to mind.
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We were told on the Polly L working the 1715, NEVER to bring bones up. If so, it would open a can of worms and we would be shut down temporarily. Never found any myself.
 

I would think that the archeologist would have endless hours of dna database cross referenceing. And many other scientific experiments that could drag on for years. Would be a big mistake. Finding living relatives, formal burials, living realitives making claims to treasure, etc, etc,...
 

All: the bone in question was discovered inside a very large concretion, not just laying on the bottom. That concretion is being slowly and carefully taken apart and who knows what else is inside it? I started working on the Whydah in 1982 just after I got back from Port Royal as a grad student. I heard about the discovery and Clifford hired me to do research to try and determine if we were looking in the right area. As it turns out of course we were but it was not until the summer of 1984 that we found actual Whydah artifacts. I was the guy who did the confirmation dive that day and it was incredible, when I came out of the water everyone on board was waiting to see my reaction and I gave the thumbs up like a Roman emperor in the coliseum. The historical record is almost as fascinating as the archaeological one, I found the transcripts from the pirate trials held in Boston and even Cotton Mather of Salem witch trial fame g
 

Wow.....incredible !!!
 

whydahdiver said:
All: the bone in question was discovered inside a very large concretion, not just laying on the bottom. That concretion is being slowly and carefully taken apart and who knows what else is inside it? I started working on the Whydah in 1982 just after I got back from Port Royal as a grad student. I heard about the discovery and Clifford hired me to do research to try and determine if we were looking in the right area. As it turns out of course we were but it was not until the summer of 1984 that we found actual Whydah artifacts. I was the guy who did the confirmation dive that day and it was incredible, when I came out of the water everyone on board was waiting to see my reaction and I gave the thumbs up like a Roman emperor in the coliseum. The historical record is almost as fascinating as the archaeological one, I found the transcripts from the pirate trials held in Boston and even Cotton Mather of Salem witch trial fame g
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Do you mind if ask if you just keep typing ... heh

Interesting to me to say the very least... could read what you wrote about this all day.

Please I implore you to continue with any and every "experiences" you had during this IMO one of the best discoveries since Atocha :)

Super frigging cool...

And I have wanted to be one of the ones experiencing what you have and are on that wreck.

When I first heard of this discovery my mouth stayed drooped open for at least 1 minute after uttering the words "no way".

Amazing...

The one and only TRUE "Pyrate ship"... And yes I mean pYrate.
 

Thanks and I feel the same way to this day. When I got to the bottom that day in 1984 the sun was in and out of the clouds due to thunder storms in the area. The first thing I saw was 5 or 6 cannons in all different positions and when the sun penetrated to that layer I could see the glint of gold dust sitting on the hard clay which is where most items came to rest. As I got a closer look there were scores of coins, pieces of 8 everywhere scattered about. I could read some of the dates and none was later than 1717, the year she sank so that told me we were on the Whydah. When I got back to the surface the thunder and lightning started as champagne corks popped, sounds like a Hollywood script writer but all true. We all said it was Bellamy's curse and he was pissed that we found his treasure!


WD
 

What was the first item to surface ?

"Gotcha" find... which and what ?

The find that sticks out in your mind.

This is also a stellar pic.

10_30_1985.jpg
 

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