Mysteries Abound In WTC Ship Remains
2010 08 18
From: discovery.com
On July 12 the remains of an 18th-century ship were found buried 20 feet below street level at the site of the World Trade Center in New York City. The question is -- how did they get there?
Nobody knows for sure -- yet. And even though there are timbers from the front half of the ship, nobody can identify what kind of ship it is because, among other mysteries, it’s not a design we’ve seen before.
This is an honest-to-goodness historical mystery and we're going to follow it until the end.
Yesterday I spoke with Patricia Samford, Director of the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Lab, where the wood is now being prepared for scientific study. She said at the moment they’re cleaning and prepping the ship's partial skeleton (partial, because the back half of the ship is missing) ahead of a slew of scientific analysis.
They're no stranger to this kind of work. They've worked with the USS Monitor, the CSS Alabama, Blackbeard's Queen Anne's Revenge and they'll probably help with anything found in the USS Scorpion dig site in Maryland's Patuxent River.
We’ll likely pay the lab a visit -- with video camera in tow -- once the heavy lifting gets underway. In the meantime, I’ll report back with any further developments as Patricia and her crew try to learn the back story of this ship. I’ll also be reaching out to *you* though various social media means to see if we can answer any questions you might have directly.
And while dead men may tell no tales, here's just a taste of what long-forgotten ship timbers can tell us:* Where the Trees Came From: Since the wood itself can be identified by geography, they can tell where in the U.S. the wood was grown.
When The Tree Was Cut Down: Once they know where the wood came from, they can compare tree rings from other wood samples from that area and identify what year the tree was cut down.
Where The Ship Sailed: Specific species of woodworms live in specific areas of the ocean. Ships can pick them up like passport stamps as they enter various ports. By looking at what types of woodworms left traces in the ship timbers, one can figure out which ports the ship visited long ago.
For more on the timbers' arrival, here's a good recounting a la washingtonpost.com.
More photos: see slide show
Source: discovery.com
Related Articles
18th-Century Ship Found at WTC
Latest News from our Front Page
|
IRS Scandal - "This is Tyrannical"
2013 05 23
The IRS’s Job Is To Violate Our Liberties
By Ron Paul | the-free-foundation.org
“What do you expect when you target the President?” This is what an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agent allegedly said to the head of a conservative organization that was being audited after calling for the impeachment of then-President Clinton. Recent revelations that IRS agents gave “special scrutiny” to organizations ... |
EU Leaders to Sidestep Lisbon Treaty Rule
2013 05 22
The Lisbon Treaty clearly intends for the size of the European Commission to be reduced below its present size of 27 members. But EU leaders have reached unanimous agreement to sidestep the provision -- and even plan to add a seat to the table for the Croatians.
From the outside, it looks as though the European Union is hopelessly divided. Northern ... |
The Soviet Story
2013 05 22
The Soviet Story is a 2008 documentary film about Soviet Communism and Soviet–German collaboration before 1941 written and directed by Edvīns Šnore and sponsored by the UEN Group in the European Parliament.
The film features interviews with western and Russian historians such as Norman Davies and Boris Sokolov, Russian writer Viktor Suvorov, Soviet dissident Vladimir Bukovsky, members of the European Parliament ... |
Inferno Author Dan Brown ’Honoured’ to be Invited to Join Freemasons
2013 05 22
The Freemasons’ Code: Dan Brown reveals the message that told him the door to the lodge is open.
His best-selling novels illuminate the shadowy organisations that supposedly run the world. But Dan Brown was “honoured” to receive an invitation to join the Freemasons, the arcane fraternity whose tentacles are said to extend into the highest echelons of power.
Tonight the Da Vinci ... |
New EU law that could ban all seeds
2013 05 22
Seed lovers, growers and local producers could all be harmed under the proposed Regulation on Marketing of Plant Reproductive Material by the EU. Sign this petition and email the decision makers to stop this happening.
A New Seed Law will go before the EU commissioners on May 6th 2013.
The Regulation on Marketing of Plant Reproductive Material law will mean no ... |
| More News » |
|
|
|
|
