NewsWhore
11-18-2008, 04:00 PM
This evening the National Geographic Channel is airing a documentary on the discovery and study of the Cara Merchant pirate ship, which has been found off Catalina Island in the eastern Dominican Republic. This is the ship that 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. The site will be turned into a Living Museum and will be accessible to the general public by December 2009.
"Shipwreck! Captain Kidd" premieres Tuesday, 18 November at 9pm EST as part of its "Expedition Week" programming.
The documentary tells how researchers confirmed that the shipwreck was the Cara Merchant after discovering teak wood after chiseling under the cannon that will be raised for the purpose of future identification. Samples sent to two laboratories for analysis in September identified the wood as teak. Teak was used by shipbuilders in western India, where the Cara Merchant was built. Beeker said the wood analysis confirmed that the ship is Captain Kidd's Cara Merchant.
The ship, according to archival records, was built in Surat, western India. The trade networks had not expanded to be completely global, 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. Support from local dive shops and hotels is critical to monitoring and protecting the preserves.
Archaeologists from Indiana University have worked closely with the DR's National Office of Underwater Cultural Heritage (ONPCS).
Indiana University has been entrusted with the research. Charles Beeker, director of the Office of Underwater Science in IU Bloomington's School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation says he knows of no other discoveries of 17th century ships of this kind, adding to the historical significance of the find. Beeker can be reached at cbeeker@indiana.edu
To learn more about the Underwater Science program, visit www.indiana.edu/~scuba (http://www.indiana.edu/~scuba)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#1)
"Shipwreck! Captain Kidd" premieres Tuesday, 18 November at 9pm EST as part of its "Expedition Week" programming.
The documentary tells how researchers confirmed that the shipwreck was the Cara Merchant after discovering teak wood after chiseling under the cannon that will be raised for the purpose of future identification. Samples sent to two laboratories for analysis in September identified the wood as teak. Teak was used by shipbuilders in western India, where the Cara Merchant was built. Beeker said the wood analysis confirmed that the ship is Captain Kidd's Cara Merchant.
The ship, according to archival records, was built in Surat, western India. The trade networks had not expanded to be completely global, 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. Support from local dive shops and hotels is critical to monitoring and protecting the preserves.
Archaeologists from Indiana University have worked closely with the DR's National Office of Underwater Cultural Heritage (ONPCS).
Indiana University has been entrusted with the research. Charles Beeker, director of the Office of Underwater Science in IU Bloomington's School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation says he knows of no other discoveries of 17th century ships of this kind, adding to the historical significance of the find. Beeker can be reached at cbeeker@indiana.edu
To learn more about the Underwater Science program, visit www.indiana.edu/~scuba (http://www.indiana.edu/~scuba)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#1)