Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
---
Yesterday I was discussing an interesting dissertation on shipwrecks. I'll discuss that a little more today.
Below is a chart showing the distribution of wreck sites in the study. Many were from the 1800s.
 |
| Ancient Gold Jewelry Found by Detectorist |
Mark Hambleton, who went back to metal detecting after advice from his late father, made the find with Joe Kania, on Staffordshire Moorlands farmland.
The three necklaces and bracelet are believed to be about 2,500 years old.
Their find was declared treasure at an inquest led by coroner Ian Smith, who joked it was likely to be "worth a bob or two"...
Here is the link for more about that.
Yesterday I was discussing an interesting dissertation on shipwrecks. I'll discuss that a little more today.
Below is a chart showing the distribution of wreck sites in the study. Many were from the 1800s.
Notice the clustering. I always say that things cluster, whether it is stars or microbes. It is certainly true in many ways when it comes to shipwrecks and metal detector finds.
In this illustration you can see that the heaviest concentration is outside of the inlet on a sand bar. That is certainly not surprising. The there were also a good number in the inlet and port area. There are also plenty to the north and south of the inlet, with perhaps more to the north. Or is that accurate? I'm not totally sure about that one.
My main point, and I won't get much more detailed today, is that there are reasons for things and patterns to be discovered. It is easy to go out to a wreck and swing a detector around anywhere to see if there might be something there, but you'll do better if you do a little research and analysis.
Towards the end of the dissertation you'll find a variety of wreck photos showing how wrecks deteriorate over a period of years and how they are repeatedly exposed and covered again.
Here is an interesting one.
 |
| Part of Wreck Partially Exposed. |
Notice how the structure blocked wind, slowed sand and resulted in a small dune. Again, there are reasons for things. If you see a dune that seems to be out of place, you might wonder why it is there. There is undoubtedly a good reason for it, and it could be a good clue. Wrecks, like natural objects and other man-made objects can change the landscape. I believe that some of the rocks along our shore cover shipwreck remains.
I use the same principle to find old bottles. You see an isolated clump of moss or seagrass sticking out of submerged flat sand. There is a reason the grass is in that one spot. Sometimes it is growing on a rock or a log, and sometimes it might be growing on an old bottle. My favorite bottle find came from investigating such a clump of vegetation.
I'd encourage you to browse through this dissertation for yourself.
I found it at I found the dissertation on https://oaktrust.library.tamu.edu.
I'm sure you'll be able to find it using torres-dissertation-2015.pdf.
---
The surf is running two to three feet. We are going to have some good negative tides.
Expect a nice bump in the surf this weekend - perhaps up to seven feet.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
