12/16/19 Report - 3-D Interactive Shipwreck Site Models. Dueling In America. Maya Prisoner Bones. The Blog This Year.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

3-D Interactive Model of 15377 Shipwreck.

Source: BOEM (See link below.)

BOEM, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, has a very nice site with an interactive Virtual Archaeology Museum.

Here is what BOEM says.

In the course of oil and gas exploration, BOEM has discovered many amazing shipwrecks. Each shipwreck tells a story of our shared history and provides a mystery to uncover. BOEM would like to share these mysteries with you by providing  access to new 3D modeling never before possible using video publicly available from NOAA's Office of Ocean Exploration and Research...

Freatured shipwrecks include the 15377, Monterey A, Monterey B, Monterey C and Blake Ridge shipwrecks.
The photo above shows one view of the interactive 3-D model of the 15377 shipwreck,.

https://www.boem.gov/environment/virtual-archaeology-museum

Thanks to DJ for the link.


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Dueling got an early start in colonial America.  On June 18, 1621, there was a duel at Plymouth Rock.

… two of Steven Hopkins' indentured servants got into an argument of unknown origins.  The duel resulted in both Edward Doty and Edward Leister wounded, which caused Hopkins to fear he could lose the labors of two good men.  To prevent future such behavior, the men  were "hog-tied," with their feet tied to their heads for 24 painful hours...

It appears that there was a duel at Jamestown in 1624.  

In 1996, archaeologists discovered the skeletal remains of a young European male who had been shot in the lower leg, causing severe damage leading to his death.  At the time, William Kelso, director of archaeological research at Jamestown Redicoversy, said it might be America's first unsolved murder...  But in 2013 Kelso's team discovered the victim was George Harrison, who was shot by Richard Stephens, a Jamestown merchant...

The two above quotes are from Dueling in Colonial America, by John T. Trussell as published in the Fall 2019 SAR Magazine.

Don't you think the comment about the "America's first unsolved murder" is a gross overgeneralization?  That would seem to suggest that the native Americans never committed a murder, or if they did, they always knew or found out who did it.

I almost expected the other party to the George Harrison duel to be Ringo Star.

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Researcher at the University of Bonn investigated bones from the 1,400-year-old Maya mass grave of Uxul

Several years ago, Maya archaeologists from the University of Bonn found the bones of about 20 people at the bottom of a water reservoir in the former Maya city of Uxul, in what is now Mexico. They had apparently been killed and dismembered about 1,400 years ago. Did these victims come from Uxul or other regions of the Maya Area? Dr. Nicolaus Seefeld, who heads the project that is funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation at the University of Bonn, is now one step further: A strontium isotope analysis by the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) showed that some of the dead grew up at least 95 miles (150 kilometers) from Uxul... 

The results of the isotope analysis show that most of the victims grew up at least 95 miles (150 kilometers) from Uxul in the southern lowlands, in what is now Guatemala. "However, at least one adult and also one infant were local residents from Uxul," says the researcher. They were apparently mostly people of high social status, as eight of the individuals had elaborate jade tooth jewelry or engravings in their incisors...

Here is the link for more about that.

https://www.uni-bonn.de/news/311-2019

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The years fly by.  I remember sitting down to my first post of 2019 and thinking about that.  It seemed like last week.  Now we are getting close to the end of the year.

As I look back at the most read posts of the year,  the numbers show what you would probably expect - detectorists pay a lot of attention to the weather and interest in Treasure Coast metal detecting rises and falls very much with changes in the weather.  The most read posts of 2019 were posted in January, February and September.

You might not remember now, but we had some good erosion back in January.  There were also some finds reported that stimulated a lot of interest back then.  One of those was as suspicious as some of the finds made on Oak Island.  You might remember what was reported as a find of an Incan funerary mask.  There seemed to be a lot of controversy about that one.  Click here to see that post.

I think you will all remember what happened in September.  Dorian was heading towards us, but after all of the panic and preparations, stayed well off-shore.  It looked for a while like we were going to get a direct hit by a major hurricane.  Despite the improvements in weather science, they missed it on Dorian, and the Treasure Coast missed getting hit by a very dangerous storm.

It isn't unusual for January and February to be good metal detecting months.   Other than after the occasional hurricane or tropical storm, November through February are often the best times for metal detecting on the Treasure Coast.  That, of course, is also when many of the snow birds are in town.

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Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

5/23/19 Report - Less Known Treasure Coast Wrecks. More Sand Coming. Bottle Finds.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

Three Frank Hudson Books.

After looking for one book in particular, I found a few that I hadn't seen in quite a while.  Among those that I found are the three Frank Hudson books.  It was one of those I was originally looking for.  I thought I better do this while I have them out.

At one time I compiled my own list of Florida sunken and buried treasures from all the sources I could find at the time.  That was before the internet became the place to look.  I also found my computer printout that lists the treasure sites.  The printout is about twelve feet long.

Maybe you can remember the days when computer printouts came on long rolls of paper with holes along both sides that were used by the printer to move the paper along.  Now you usually get the regular 8.5 by 11 sheets. 

Anyhow, if you look at books like the ones shown above, you might find some surprising omissions, but you'll most likely find some you never heard of before and maybe some you forgot about.

If you hunt the Treasure Coast, you probably know about the 1715 Fleet sites, but there might be other wrecks that you don't know so much about.

Here are a few examples from Hudson's Florida Shipwreck Treasures book.  

The Bark Nantwich (1696) off of Fort Pierce with $10,000 in gold.  Almost nothing compared to the treasure galleons, yet would make a nice find.

Maybe you know about the three 1565 galleons.  Hudson lists those.

The San Pedro and Pedro Menendez (both 16th century) off Cape Canaveral.

And there are the British ships Barkentine and Burrough listed as being around Jupiter Inlet.

Those are just a few examples of the many wrecks that are out there.  Of course Hudson's books do not give precise coordinates, so there is a lot left to do, however it never hurts to be familiar with what might be out there.  The point is that if you do your research you might find some new sites that you'll enjoy.  I did.

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I received an email from DJ about the recent plans for more sand for the Vero Beaches.  He provided a link to an article from VeroNews that begins as follows:  The City of Vero Beach's eroded shoreline will be getting a major infusion og sand this fall - from the Tracking Station Park all the way to Castaway Cove - partially paid for by funds included in the $91.1 billion budget approved last week by the Florida Legislature.

See:  http://veronews.com/2019/05/16/veros-beaches-to-finally-get-infusion-of-sand/

DJ offered his opinions, which you migth well agree with. Here is what he said.

I have never been more aware of beach sand than the last two years while treasure hunting and studying the beaches as they erode then sand in.

I cannot remember a beach where I thought there was a lack of sand that negatively impacted the tourists and locals. Certainly not now.

I think this sand ‘crisis’ has been fabricated. Also interesting is the last several attempts were squashed by the feds and the Vero charter prohibits ‘using it’s own money for sand unless for emergency work’.

Just because an elected official says it is imperative and makes the beach better for tourism, business and world peace does not make it so. (The Emperor's new clothes) 

And the timing to miss sea turtle nesting (Which I support) will be just in time for the winter nor’easters to remove it all.

Maybe the feds will cut it out once again, or the Guv will veto it.

Anyway my unsolicited 2 cents. 

I'm sure you a lot of people will agree with you DJ.  Thanks!

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I decided to store away some of my bottle finds and started with some of the more common ink bottles.

A Variety of Ink Bottle Finds.

All but three in this group are screw-top bottles.

Besides the Waterman's bottles that I've already shown, this group includes Parkers and Sanford ink bottles.  Several do not have a mark indicating the manufacturer.

Sanford Ink Bottle

Parkers Ink Bottle.

I have some ink bottles that are older and more interesting, including some cone bottles.  I've sold some of those in the past.  They sell easily.  I'll show some cone bottles in the future.

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The surf will start increasing on the Treasure Coast today, reaching three to four feet by tomorrow, however the wind will still be from the south.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net