By Tim Binnall
The mystery surrounding a puzzling object that emerged from a beach in Florida has been solved as archaeologists say that the perplexing series of wooden pieces are the remnants of a ship from the 1800s. Partially exposed to the elements due to a pair of hurricanes that swept across the state earlier this year and first noticed around Thanksgiving in the community of Daytona Beach Shores, the oddity sparked all manner of theories surrounding its nature with some speculating that it could be a tidal barrier, a disused pier, or event bleacher seats from NASCAR races held at the location back in the 1950s. However, the most prevalent explanation, that it was a shipwreck, turned out to be correct.
Researchers from the Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program reportedly excavated around 20 feet of sand around the oddity on Tuesday and, in turn, were able to get a much better understanding of what had been found. "It's a wooden-hulled shipwreck," group director Chuck Meide explained, "it was held together with wooden pegs and also with iron fasteners." Archaeologists on-site speculated that the vessel was likely a cargo or merchant ship that measured around 80 to 100 feet in length and was once 20 to 25 feet wide. While the nature of the object may have been determined, where it came from and how it wound up wrecked in Florida remains a mystery.
“It’s really hard with a beach shipwreck or really any shipwreck to identify it beyond a shadow of a doubt and know the name of it," Meade explained to a local media outlet, "but certainly we can look at the archives" to see if there might be a possible match. The group plans to continue to excavate around the downed vessel, but will ultimately only photograph and document the debris rather than try to remove it from the sand, since it would likely fall apart in such a scenario. That said, they are hopeful that some piece of the ship may include an additional clue as to its origin and allow them to know the full story of the mysterious vessel that went down at sea so long ago.