CAPTAIN KIDD’S TREASURE: WOOD DISCOVERED, "LIVING MUSEUM" IN THE WORKS
Indiana University
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Nov 17 2008
IN
Editors: At 2 p.m. EST broadcast news stations in Indianapolis can
receive around 20 minutes of expedition footage via the IU video
link. For additional assistance, contact Dave Rust at 812-855-7019 and
[email protected]. For a Spanish translation of this news release,
visit Press
inquiries related to "Shipwreck! Captain Kidd" press kits, DVDs or
photos, contact Dara Klatt at National Geographic Channel, 202-912-6720
and [email protected]. The documentary airs on Nov. 18.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The U.S. Agency for International Development
has awarded Indiana University $200,000 to turn the Captain Kidd
shipwreck site and three other underwater preserves in the Dominican
Republic into no-take, no-anchor "Living Museums," where cultural
discoveries will protect precious corals and other threatened biology
in the surrounding reef systems under the supervision and support
of the Dominican Republic’s Oficina Nacional de Patrimonio Cultural
Subacuatico (ONPCS).
Close up of Captain Kidd shipwreck teak keel with holes for hull
fasteners.
Print-Quality Photo The news comes just months after the unexpected
discovery of teak wood on the Captain Kidd site, a discovery that
IU archeologists say confirms that this is the Cara Merchant, the
ship Captain William Kidd commandeered and then abandoned in 1699
as he raced to New York in an ill-fated attempt to clear his name of
piracy charges.
"When we removed a cannon this summer for future identification, we
exposed the keel of the ship," said Charles Beeker, director of the
Office of Underwater Science in IU Bloomington’s School of Health,
Physical Education and Recreation. "I’m just shocked that the keel is
still there but the reason it’s probably there is because it was teak,
which is resistant to decomposition."
Beeker and archaeologist Geoffrey Conrad, director of the William
Hammond Mathers Museum at IU Bloomington, have been conducting
underwater and land-based archaeological research in the Dominican
Republic for 12 years, exploring the era when the Old World and New
World first met.
Much of their work is focused in the area of La Isabela Bay, the site
of the first permanent Spanish settlement established by Christopher
Columbus. The Taino were the first indigenous people to interact with
Europeans. An expert in the creation of underwater preserves, Beeker
already has helped create three preserves in the Dominican Republic to
allow divers to explore cultural artifacts, such as cannons recovered
from shipwrecks. While there last year on a research mission related
to Columbus’ ships, Beeker and his team were asked by the ONPCS to
examine a shipwreck site discovered by a prominent local resident.
Fritz Hanselmann preparing to recover one of the Captain Kidd
"great guns."
Print-Quality Photo To their surprise, they found an untouched
shipwreck — primarily piles of carefully stacked cannons — resting
in less than 10 feet of clear waters just 70 feet off the coast of
Catalina Island.
Once the discovery was assessed, however, the archaeological team
and ONPCS were faced with the urgency of protecting the site
from looters. The announcement last December of the discovery
brought worldwide attention to the shipwreck but also enacted some
protections. The ONPCS licensed Beeker, a recognized marine protection
authority, and his IU team to study the wreckage and to convert the
site into an underwater preserve, where it will be accessible to
the public.
"This ship is very important to Dominican maritime heritage and it
merits protection," said Francis Soto, ONPCS Technical Director.
The new USAID award, titled "Living Museums in the Sea: A Network
of Underwater Archaeological Preserves in Southeastern Dominican
Republic," will protect the cannons, ship keel and other items. Its
primary goal, however, is to provide protections for stands of
threatened elkhorn coral, rare pillar coral, and other biological
resources in the surrounding reef systems.
"People often ask if we found treasure. We’ve always considered the
ship the treasure," Beeker said. "The USAID award is unique because
it combines biodiversity with protection of cultural resources. The
preserves will provide a treasure of sorts for people to enjoy for
hundreds of years."
The award, which becomes effective this December, provides funding
for two years, with the expectation that the IU team will focus on
protecting the Captain Kidd site. The work will include archaeological
and biological inventories of the site, which Beeker expects to be
open to the public by December 2009 in time for the 310th anniversary
of the ship’s loss. Underwater interpretive slates will be translated
into five languages to reflect the anticipated international appeal
of the sites.
"Interpretation is very important to this project, as one of our main
goals is to educate the general public not only about the shipwreck,
but also as to the fragility of the surrounding marine life and
their ecosystem," said Fritz Hanselmann, research coordinator with
the Office of Underwater Science.
The Captain Kidd site, which will feature the stack of cannons
and anchor parts, is the only pirate ship ever discovered in the
Caribbean and one of only three discovered in the Americas. In
addition to recreational uses, the preserves also will be available
as a scientific field resource for students and professionals in such
fields as underwater archaeology, marine biology, ecology and geology.
Below are some developments since the discovery was announced last
December.
The USAID award funds efforts to turn the Captain Kidd site and
three existing underwater preserves into no-take, no-anchor "Living
Museums." The four sites will be called the proposed La Romana-Bayahibe
Regional Preserve Network.
National Geographic Channel will air a documentary on the discovery
and study of the ship, including the excavation of the teak
wood. "Shipwreck! Captain Kidd" premieres Tuesday, Nov. 18, at 9
p.m. EST as part of its "Expedition Week" programming.
Researchers discovered teak wood after chiseling under the cannon
that would be raised for the purpose of future identification. Samples
sent to two laboratories for analysis identified the wood in September
as teak. Teak was used by shipbuilders in West India, where the Cara
Merchant was built. Beeker said the wood analysis confirms that the
ship is Captain Kidd’s Cara Merchant. The ship, according to archival
records, was built in Surat, West India. The trade networks had not
expanded to be completely global, so few but the Spanish traded in
the Caribbean. "Indian Merchants were trading with England, but they
were not in the Western Hemisphere," Hanselmann said. "So it’s a rare
instance in the historical record of a ship built in India having
been in the Caribbean. If you couple the historical record with the
archaeological record and the results of the wood analysis being teak,
that allows us to fill in more pieces of the puzzle as to what this
ship is and where it came from."
Archival research identified the correct name of the ship, the
Armenian-owned Cara Merchant. Several variations of this name had
also been used.
IU researchers have met with tourism industry officials, business
owners and several research-oriented non-governmental organizations
to discuss the use and protection of the sites. The support of local
dive shops and hotels is critical to monitoring and protecting the
preserves.
Besides being made from teak, the ship construction could involve
rabbetted joints, similar to tongue-and-groove construction. Beeker
said he knows of no other 17th century ships like this that have been
found, adding to the historical significance of the find.
Beeker also serves on the Marine Protected Areas Federal Advisory
Committee for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He
can be reached at 812-855-5748 or [email protected]. Conrad can
be reached at 812-855-5340 and [email protected]. Hanselmann can be
reached at 812-855-5748 or [email protected]. To learn more about
the Underwater Science program visit
Francis Soto can be reached at 809-685-9072.
For additional assistance, contact Tracy James, University
Communications, at 812-855-0084 and [email protected].