On the row of timbers, a group of archaeologists dug a 60-foot ditch on Monday and Tuesday. A nautical vessel with curved wood, ribs, and sand-logged joints emerged from the object’s burial site.
Theories about what the unusual 80-foot-long wood and metal device at Daytona Beach Shores in Volusia County, Florida, might have been exploded when it was discovered last month.
Some speculated that it might be a piece of a shipwreck. It was suggested that the bleachers might have been erected during the time when NASCAR held beach races. Others questioned whether it might be the ruins of a long-gone pier.
This week, the mystery was solved. On Monday and Tuesday, a group of archaeologists dug a 60-foot trench along the row of timbers. The thing emerged from its grave to reveal that it was a seagoing watercraft with curved wood, ribs, and sand-logged joints.
Chuck Meide, a maritime archaeologist, stated on Friday that “it is unquestionably a ship.” There’s no way it’s not a ship, you say.
Shifting sands, ebbing and flowing tides, and major storm disruptions frequently bring to light Florida’s hidden nautical mysteries. Meide said the most recent find was probably a privately owned commercial ship from the 1800s in an interview as he was getting ready to examine another wreck that had been found on Little Talbot Island.
Even though there are currently more mysteries than answers regarding shipwrecks, understanding earlier marine routes is helpful. Meide, director of the research department of the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum in St. Augustine, Florida, asserted that if the Daytona Beach Shores wreck carried fruit, it was most likely sailing north from the Caribbean. He asserted that if it had left from the north, its cargo would almost certainly have included manufactured products.
Because it provides an illustration of something that was a crucial component of our culture, “as archaeologists, we surely find value in this,” he said. The nation of America is marine. We almost ever get a peep into this remnant of a bygone era.
He added, “We think it is most likely a commerce ship that went down in the 1800s. “A cargo-carrying vessel that would have travelled up and down the coast in sight of land.”
The location of the boat’s construction may be determined by further examination of 22 wood samples that were collected from the site.
Despite the fact that it is by no means an exact science, he suggested that perhaps tree-ring research could help determine a more accurate date. However, we don’t have full chronologies for all wood species.
According to a statement from Mark Ard, a representative for the Florida Department of State, state archaeologists collaborated with the team to research the site and decide the best course of action.
It’s possible that the wreckage would have surfaced eventually if it hadn’t been found this year. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, all beaches naturally erode to some extent, and for barrier islands like Daytona Beach Shores, average annual shoreline recession rates of 25 feet are not unusual.
But this year, two severe storms—Hurricane Nicole, which tore through Florida in November, and Hurricane Ian, one of the biggest storms to strike the country in the past ten years—accelerated beach erosion on Daytona Beach Shores.
The shipwreck at Daytona Beach Shores is not the first to be found off the coast of Florida, and it most likely won’t be the last either.A couple strolling along Crescent Beach in 2020 spotted some wooden timbers and bolts protruding from the sand. It was a component of the 19th-century ship Caroline Eddy, according to maritime archaeologists.
A 17-year-old found a rare 1715 Fleet gold coin in 2021 south of Turtle Trail Beach, off the east coast of Florida. In October, a man in St. Augustine who was sand dredging discovered a diamond ring that was estimated to be worth $40,000.
