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We're Working to Bring History Back to Life
One artifact at a time, our researchers are uncovering and preserving an important piece of maritime history. You can become part of this endeavor.
Visit our Lab and Museums
Pirates and Ships, Dives and Discoveries
Learn about Blackbeard, Queen Anne's Revenge, La Concorde, the transatlantic slave trade, and underwater archaeology with classroom-friendly educational resources.
View Educational ResourcesAn Infamous Legacy, Stretching Back 300 Years...
As archaeologists, conservators, and historians, staff of the Queen Anne's Revenge Conservation Lab and Underwater Archaeology Branch of the Office of State Archaeology are dedicated to uncovering the mysteries of the past. Join us as we explore day by day the origins of Blackbeard, his famous flagship, Queen Anne's Revenge, and the ship's prior history as La Concorde, a transatlantic slave-trading vessel.
Upcoming Events
Saturday at the QAR Lab
Did you know Queen Anne’s Revenge did not always sail under that name? Come find out more about the history of La Concorde, a slave-trading vessel which later became the infamous pirate Blackbeard’s flagship. November 18, 2023, we are opening our doors for our Saturday tour day! Learn about the science behind archaeology and conservation from the staff responsible for conserving, documenting, and investigating this one ship with two names. Additionally, you will have the opportunity to view the Native American dugout canoe recently recovered from Lake Waccamaw! Registration for tour times will open October 1.
Blackbeard's Prize Lay Submerged for Over 250 Years...
The origins of Queen Anne's Revenge's, much like its Captain's, Blackbeard, stretch into an obscurity beyond the historical record.
We do know that the story of QAR began long before it fell into the famed pirate's clutches. In fact, Blackbeard's captaining of QAR constituted only a small portion of the vessel's seafaring years. Before Blackbeard, the ship was called La Concorde and belonged to a wealthy French merchant, trafficking human cargo across the Atlantic on the notorious "Middle Passage." After 1718, it belonged, for a time, to the ocean alone.
Since its discovery near Beaufort inlet in 1996, the remains of the vessel have become the property of the people of North Carolina, under the stewardship of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.