Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
One of the oldest, if not the oldest, shipwreck ever discovered in the New World is the Molasses Reef wreck. In fact there have been some that thought it was one of the Columbus ships. The identify however remains uncertain.
I think you'll enjoy reading about it and some of the story connected with its discovery and excavation, which I found on the Turks and Caicos Museum web site.
About 1513, on a reef located on the southern fringe of the Caicos Bank some 20 miles south of the island of Providenciales, a ship sank.
This ship, known only as the Molasses Reef Wreck, is the oldest European shipwreck excavated in the Western Hemisphere. The Museum’s first floor is dedicated to what archaeologists, scientists, and historians have discovered about this wreck.
For over 450 years, the wreck sat on the reef apparently undisturbed after its loss. In the mid-1970s, a pair of treasure hunters discovered it. Through their rudimentary knowledge of ordnance, they concluded that the wreck was not the usual galleon wreck sought by treasure hunters, but an earlier vessel from the late 1490s or early 1500s.
Based on this information, they leaped to the conclusion they had discovered the wreck of Columbus’ ship La Pinta, a wreck whose fame was worth more than any treasure cargo. This unfounded claim, however, backfired on the treasure hunters. The Turks and Caicos Islands Government recognized that the wreck, Pinta or not, was one of the oldest wrecks ever found in the Western Hemisphere and took over management of the site on the basis of legislation passed in 1974...
Here is the link for the rest of that article.
A related article follows.
“Divers find oldest shipwreck in the Caribbean . . . and treasure that could be worth MILLIONS” screamed the headline in the Daily Mail on April 29, 2011. Nicknamed the “Precioso site” by the American treasure hunters working it, the shipwreck is located off the east coast of the Dominican Republic. This caught my attention immediately because for the last 30 years the Spanish shipwreck we excavated off Molasses Reef in the Caicos Islands has been recognized as the oldest ever found in the entire Western Hemisphere.
I read on, eagerly, curious to know how they dated the wreck and what was on it. By the reference to “700 silver coins” in the third sentence I was already suspicious. The presence of coins meant the ship went down some time after the Mexico City mint was established in 1536. By the end of the article I knew that the Molasses Reef Wreck’s title was still safe. The “Precioso” went down decades later, probably after the middle of the 1500s based on the dateable coins. Furthermore, the remains of the ship seemed to be widely scattered and already picked over by local divers.
The story brought back memories of the way the Molasses Reef Wreck burst on the global media scene in 1980, complete with similar hyperbole and outlandish claims made by Caribbean Ventures, the treasure hunting group that announced the find. They claimed it was one of the three ships Columbus used on his first voyage to the New World, La Pinta, and that it sank in 1498 loaded with a cargo of “red pearls” worth $100,000,000!
A visitor quietly perusing the Molasses Reef Wreck exhibit in the Turks and Caicos National Museum today would never imagine the dramatic struggle between treasure hunters and archaeologists that preceded the site’s excavation, or appreciate the fact that if the archaeologists had lost the fight there would be no Molasses Reef Wreck exhibit or, for that matter, Turks and Caicos National Museum!...
And here is the link for the rest of that article.
You might remember my discussion of the Discovery Channel TV show, "Cooper's Treasure," starring Darrell Cooper. While the above article mentions Roger Cooper's attempt to get salvage rights for the Molasses Reef Wreck, from the point of view of an archaeologist, the following article talks about his activities from another slant.
Here is a brief excerpt.
And here is the link for the rest of the article.
That is a different perspective than the one given by the archaeologist. Which is more true? Or are both off in their own way?
You might also enjoy reading about Maravedi Cove, which is related to the Molasses Reef wreck.
It begins..
In the early 1980s, Grand Turk dive operator Mike Spillar was cruising around the islands, diving with some friends. After a dive on the west coast of West Caicos, the group motored to shore, hoping to find a place to land. But that side of the island, unprotected by a fringing reef and often scourged by the full force of the sea, offers no beach, only the ragged, eroded limestone formations called ironshore. Not willing to risk the dingy, they were about to turn back when they spotted a natural cove large enough to enter and tie up in protected waters.
Once on shore, they were delighted to discover pools of fresh water that had accumulated in natural basins in the rock. The shallow pools were tepid, but fresh and inviting. Mike stretched out in one to rinse off. Then, in water only a few inches deep, something caught his eye. It was a small, irregularly-shaped piece of metal, hardly worth a second glance. Mike had recently participated in the excavation of a shipwreck on Molasses Reef only a few miles to the east. Maybe it was that experience, maybe it was just dumb luck, but an inner voice told Mike that the little piece of metal might be important. So he put it in his pocket...
And here is the link for the rest of that story.
That is a lot of good reading for today.
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I'd like to get to the beach today but have something else I need to do, so probably won't.
Anyhow it should be a beautiful day with calm surf.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net