Secrets of WTC shipwreck sleuthed out

[bluedigger]

Unraveling the mystery surrounding the shipwreck found last year during excavations of the World Trade Center site has resulted in several facts as well as theories. The 18th century vessel, likely a single-masted sloop, measured approximately 50 feet long, and had a shallow, double-ended draft aided by a small, tapered keel built of squared-off hickory that that ran from stem-to-stern. The hull was built from Philadelphia oak trees -- one of which had lived for at least 111 years and was still growing in 1773, its youngest sapwood preserved in one of the boat's timbers.

http://ht.ly/6oFpc



Pretty good story. Pretty amazing how they can date the sloop's construction so tightly with no historic record to follow.

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. Somehow I missed that story all together. Fascinating.

[On the Road]

2. They Probably Use Dendrochronology

which matches the variation in tree-ring patterns.

Dry years leave smaller rings than wet years. If they can match the pattern of the rings with the known history of tree ring variation, they can estimate the year of the outside ring, which is when the tree would have been cut down and the ship built. If they can match the pattern, they can get pretty specific about the exact year.

[bluedigger]

3. Um, yeah.

If you had read the story you wouldn't have felt the need to write that.;-)