Archaeologists excited by major 18th Century boat find
Workers excavating the site for the new World Trade Center this week discovered the remains of an 18th century sailing ship.
The New York Times was naturally first on the scene and recorded the amazing find – see www.nytimes.com for full story and more pictures.
The footprint of the original Trade Center, destroyed in 2001’s terrorist attack, did not include the area under excavation, so the vessel had lain 20-30ft down, undisturbed, for more than 200 years.
Regularly spaced timbers were first unearthed on Tuesday. By Wednesday the skeletal outlines of the 30ft vessel were clear.
Officials and archaeologists hurried to the important find to both record it and prevent deterioration although, providentially, rainfall helped to preserve the exposed timbers.
A 1797 map shows that the excavation site is close to where wharves once projected from Manhattan Island into the Hudson River. Perhaps records may even reveal the ship’s identity.