Fall 1997 Assessment Plan-NC Shipwreck 31CR314: Queen Anne's Revenge

The Division of Archives and History is planning a four-week archaeological expedition in Beaufort Inlet during October 1997. Studies will determine the nature and extent of North Carolina shipwreck site 31CR314, believed to be the Queen Anne's Revenge, lost in the summer of 1718 at Beaufort Inlet with the pirate Edward Teach (Blackbeard) in command. Field studies will provide critical information on the vessel type, period of use, country of origin, and function for this shipwreck. Investigators will also gain insight into the site's layout, makeup, and surrounding environmental conditions. Underwater Archaeology Branch staff will use those results to develop a site management plan that will guide decisions about future site research and protection. Expedition participants come from the Maritime Research Institute, the North Carolina Underwater Archaeology Branch, the North Carolina Maritime Museum, and also include scientists and technicians from various universities in the state.

Discovery of shipwreck 31CR314 was first made on November 21, 1996, when divers from the private research firm Intersal, Inc., reported a 20-foot by 30-foot mound of artifacts, such as cannons, anchors, and ballast cobbles, as well as portions of a wooden hull, buried under the sand. A sample of artifacts recovered from the site included a brass bell dated 1709, a blunderbuss barrel, a sounding weight, barrel hoops, lead sheets used to cover cannon touch holes, and two cannon balls. These materials provide an early eighteenth-century date for the shipwreck, and the overall artifact assemblage matches what might be expected from a pirate vessel. Blackbeard's Queen Anne's Revenge and a smaller vessel, presumably the Adventure, which he lost at the same time, are the only two vessels presently known to have sunk in this area during the first half of the 18th century according to historical documents. more...