News

Archaeologists shed light on what the mysterious object on a Florida beach might be

Archaeologists shed light on what the mysterious object on a Florida beach might be
Mystery debris found on Florida beach believed to be shipwreck remains from …
content.jwplatform.com

When mysterious debris appeared on Daytona Beach Shores in Florida, archaeologists began to investigate the site and now they have an idea of what it could be.

Turns out the mystery pieces may be shipwreck remains from the 19th century, thought to be up to 100ft long.

It is believed the wreckage was found after Hurricane Ian in September and Hurricane Nicole last month swept through the state with beach erosion causing it to be discovered south of Frank Rendon Park.

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

Archaeologists on the site say they have uncovered about 20ft of what appears to be a merchant or cargo vessel.

"Imagine as many Amazon trucks that you see on the roads today, this was the equivalent in the 1800s," Christopher McCarron, archaeology administrative director and the vessel captain of the St. Augustine maritime program told FOX35.

Timber samples are being collected in order to try and identify the origins of the ship and the date it was made.

While Chuck Meide, director of the Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program explained to ClickOrlando that while it is "really hard" to identify a shipwreck for certain, "big databases of shipwrecks" are being looked at to see what ones went down within this area.

Meide also added why the ship is "most likely" from the 1800s.

“If you have a random, wooden shipwreck on the beach, it’s most likely a wreck from the 1800s and that’s because there were so many more ships sailing in the 1800s than in the centuries before, so there were a lot more shipwrecks," he said.

Elsewhere, McCarron has shared his doubts about any artefacts being discovered in the wreckage since it is close to shore.

"Sometimes you can make the connection between what was being transported and what was being built at the time. It’s too early to say unfortunately. We're having a fight to tide," McCarron said.

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The Conversation (0)