During routine road work near the Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine, Florida, a crew unearthed a fully intact ship believed to date back to the 1800s. It was remarkably well-preserved under approximately 10 feet of sediment, to the point where they even discovered a leather boot.
From The New York Post:
“We believe the vessel may have sank unexpectedly and, over time, was silted in,” Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) District 2 Secretary Greg Evans said.
“That is why it was preserved so well. It was encapsulated in soil and mud, so there was no air contact for it to decay. It’s truly an incredible find.”
Construction was temporarily paused as the Florida Department of Transportation works with SEARCH, a global leader in archeology that has completed over 4,500 commercial and government projects in 48 US states and 36 other countries
The ship’s origin is still a mystery, and it will likely take time to uncover the vessel’s tales.
SEARCH’s Dr. James Delgado, who led the excavation and recovery, said in a statement that they believe the vessel “was a small single-masted, shallow-draft sailing craft of the 19th century.”
“It was likely used to extract fish and shellfish from coastal waterways and directly offshore,” Delgado said.
“With a dedicated team, including support from the local community and the on-site construction team, we were able to extract the vessel in order to allow the important work on the community’s infrastructure to continue.”
In an interview with Newsweek, Ian Pawn, an archeologist at the Florida Department of Transportation, detailed some of the artifacts that were amazingly still intact.
On top of the ship, they found leather shoes, coins (one dates to 1869), coconut halves “that were likely used as cups” and a portion of an oil-fired lantern, Pawn said.
What an incredible discovery!
One can't help but wonder how many other ancient treasures might be hidden beneath roads all over this country.
