Pictures: Blackbeard's Ship Yields Ornamental Sword

Elegantly Wasted

Photograph courtesy Wendy M. Welsh, North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources

A decorative chain once ran from the hole in the newfound sword hilt's quillon (pictured) to the pommel (not pictured), an ornamental knob at the base of the hilt.

Recovered from the Queen Anne's Revenge wreck site in 2008, the quillon could have been made in England or France, according to Wendy Welsh, conservator of the Queen Anne's Revenge artifacts for the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources.

Beyond the hilt, only a stump of the blade remains, but Welsh said Jan Piet Puype, a Dutch arms historian, thinks the weapon was probably relatively short and was carried by a gentleman with some status—at least before a pirate got hold of it.

Although it could have been used for self-defense, the sword was mainly a decorative  accessory and was manufactured sometime between the mid-17th century and the early 18th century, according to Puype.

(Also see "Grim Life Cursed Real Pirates of Caribbean.")

Published January 12, 2011

Grabbing History by the Horns

Photograph courtesy Wendy M. Welsh, North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources

Recovered by divers in 2010, two years after the quillon was found, this carved antler formed the sword's handle.

Experts hope to determine the antler's origin, which could help pinpoint where the weapon was made, conservator Wendy Welsh said. But, she added, there's "no way of knowing" how the sword ended up aboard Blackbeard's flagship.

(Related: "'Blackbeard's Ship' Wreck to Get Protection From Currents, Hurricanes.")

Published January 12, 2011

Archaeology in Bloom

Photograph courtesy Wendy M. Welsh, North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources

Where others see flowers and faces, Queen Anne's Revenge experts see evidence on this pommel. For example, the flowers are irises—aka fleurs-de-lis, the royal emblem of France.

Before Blackbeard captured the ship and renamed it the Queen Anne’s Revenge, it had been a private French slave ship, the Concorde. The pommel's floral embellishments may be clues that the sword too originated in France.

(Related: "Pirate Coast Campaign Was U.S.'s First War on Terror, Authors Say.")

Published January 12, 2011

Deadeye

Photograph byShanna Daniel, North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources

Encrustations cover a newly revealed, 3-foot-long (91-centimeter-long) wooden deadeye, a pulley that would have helped hold sails in place on the pirate Blackbeard’s flagship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge.

The deadeye survived the ocean waters that claimed most of the rest of the Queen Anne's Revenge because the pulley became overgrown with minerals and was buried for almost 300 years in sand and sediment.

Until they can remove the minerals and treat the artifact so it won't deteriorate in air, conservators are keeping the deadeye underwater in a lab tank.

(Play a Blackbeard interactive game.)

Published January 12, 2011

Blackbeard's Staying Power

Photograph by Courtney Platt, National Geographic

Still underwater at the Queen Anne's Revenge wreck site, this anchor is about 12 feet (3.7 meters) long and 10 feet (3 meters) wide. Eventually it will be brought to the surface, archaeologists say.

Divers have been removing artifacts from the wreck site since it was discovered in the mid-1990s. Some of the newest will go on display in June at the North Carolina Maritime Museum for the 293rd anniversary of the grounding of the Queen Anne's Revenge in 1718. (See "'Blackbeard's Ship' Yields New Clues to Pirate Mystery.")

Only about half of the wreck site has been excavated, which should leave archaeologists with plenty to do this summer, when excavations should resume this summer, budget permitting.

Published January 12, 2011