Topics Related to Artifact of the Month
It may surprise you that despite all of our combined expertise and research connections worldwide, some artifacts have us stumped.
Thoughts of piracy evoke visions of vessels and men armed to the teeth. Until recently, weapons from QAR were primarily represented by large artillery. The only trace of small firearms has consisted of a few flintlock mechanisms and copper alloy fittings, such as side plates, trigger guards, and a lone musketoon barrel. It is possible that these parts, having been left behind, were extras or non-functional. Usable firearms would have been easily offloaded following the ship’s grounding.
“That the next morning after they had all got safe into Topsail-Inlet, except Thatch, the said Thatch’s ship Queen Anne’s Revenge run a-ground off of the bar of Topsail-Inlet….”
Dawn breaks over the East Carolina sky as the intrepid recovery crew makes its way to the remains of Blackbeard’s flagship Queen Anne’s Revenge.
Pewter flatware, often referred to as plates or dishes depending on their size, provide one of our best methods of dating the wreck site of Queen Anne’s Revenge, as well as one of our most palpable links
Footwear has been considered a necessity throughout history and examples have been recovered from archaeological sites worldwide.
What do all of these things have in common?...Shoes. Shoe buckles have been around for centuries, their use and predominance changing with the fashion of the time.
Medicine in the 18th century was quite different than in modern times.
With 30 cannon, hundreds of cannonballs, and hundreds of thousands of pieces of lead shot so far recovered from Queen Anne’s Revenge it goes without saying that Blackbeard’s ship was well armed.
As a pirate, Blackbeard would have been very aware of his need to be well armed. It was all well and good to catch another ship, but if you couldn’t overpower them your career as a pirate would be short and unsuccessful. When it began its final voyage, La Concorde was armed with only 16 cannon; enough to mount a token defense with a healthy crew, but not a heavy armament by any measure. How then did Blackbeard use such a lightly armed ship? Simple: he added more guns.