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IU TO TURN KIDD SHIPWRECK INTO 'LIVING MUSEUM'
Chicago Tribune
Associated Press
Nov 19 2008
IL
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana University archaeologists have won a
$200,000 grant to turn the wreckage of a ship pirate Captain Kidd is
believed to have commandeered and three other Caribbean sites into
"living museums" that also preserve sensitive coral reefs.
The funding comes two months after IU scientists announced that they
had found evidence confirming that a shipwreck off the coast of a
tiny Dominican Republic island is the ruins of a 17th century ship
Kidd once captured.
Charles Beeker, a scuba-diving archaeologist who teaches at IU, said
the grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development will help
safeguard the Kidd site, but its primary goal is to protect elkhorn
coral, rare pillar coral and other reef systems at all four sites.
Beeker and archaeologist Geoffrey Conrad, who directs IU's William
Hammond Mathers Museum, have been exploring underwater and land-based
sites in the Dominican Republic for 12 years.
Last year, a local resident led them to a shipwreck resting in less
than 10 feet of clear waters off the coast of Catalina Island that
they now believe is a ship Kidd commandeered.
"People often ask if we found treasure. We've always considered
the ship the treasure," said Beeker, who has previously helped the
Dominican government open underwater parks that feature cannons,
jar fragments and other items recovered from shipwrecks.
In September, the IU scientists announced that they had found teak
wood at the Kidd site. Based on the fact that at the time teak wood
was rare and came only from India, the researchers said the find
confirms that the vessel is the ruins of the Cara Merchant.
Kidd captured and then abandoned that Armenian-owned ship in 1699 as he
raced to New York to try and clear his name of criminal charges. Kidd
failed to convince authorities of his innocence and was hanged in
1701 in London.
The Kidd site, which will feature the wreck's stack of cannons
and anchor parts, is the only pirate ship ever discovered in the
Caribbean. Beeker said he expects it to open to the public by December
2009 in time for the 310th anniversary of the ship's loss.
That site and the three others will be called the La Romana-Bayahibe
Regional Preserve Network. All will include underwater interpretive
slates translated into five languages.
The funding, which protects both biodiversity and cultural resources,
starts in December and runs for two years, with the expectation that
the IU team will focus on protecting cannons, ship keel and other
items at the Kidd site.
The three other sites, including a replicated shipwreck and an
artificial reef created by a ship that was intentionally sunk, are
also in the waters off the Dominican Republic. The other site holds
cannons and other items thrown from a ship that ran around about 1500.
Beeker said he and his colleagues have met with tourism industry
officials, business owners and other groups to discuss the use and
protection of all the sites. He said the support of local dive shops
and hotels is critical to monitoring and protecting the preserves.
Chicago Tribune
Associated Press
Nov 19 2008
IL
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana University archaeologists have won a
$200,000 grant to turn the wreckage of a ship pirate Captain Kidd is
believed to have commandeered and three other Caribbean sites into
"living museums" that also preserve sensitive coral reefs.
The funding comes two months after IU scientists announced that they
had found evidence confirming that a shipwreck off the coast of a
tiny Dominican Republic island is the ruins of a 17th century ship
Kidd once captured.
Charles Beeker, a scuba-diving archaeologist who teaches at IU, said
the grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development will help
safeguard the Kidd site, but its primary goal is to protect elkhorn
coral, rare pillar coral and other reef systems at all four sites.
Beeker and archaeologist Geoffrey Conrad, who directs IU's William
Hammond Mathers Museum, have been exploring underwater and land-based
sites in the Dominican Republic for 12 years.
Last year, a local resident led them to a shipwreck resting in less
than 10 feet of clear waters off the coast of Catalina Island that
they now believe is a ship Kidd commandeered.
"People often ask if we found treasure. We've always considered
the ship the treasure," said Beeker, who has previously helped the
Dominican government open underwater parks that feature cannons,
jar fragments and other items recovered from shipwrecks.
In September, the IU scientists announced that they had found teak
wood at the Kidd site. Based on the fact that at the time teak wood
was rare and came only from India, the researchers said the find
confirms that the vessel is the ruins of the Cara Merchant.
Kidd captured and then abandoned that Armenian-owned ship in 1699 as he
raced to New York to try and clear his name of criminal charges. Kidd
failed to convince authorities of his innocence and was hanged in
1701 in London.
The Kidd site, which will feature the wreck's stack of cannons
and anchor parts, is the only pirate ship ever discovered in the
Caribbean. Beeker said he expects it to open to the public by December
2009 in time for the 310th anniversary of the ship's loss.
That site and the three others will be called the La Romana-Bayahibe
Regional Preserve Network. All will include underwater interpretive
slates translated into five languages.
The funding, which protects both biodiversity and cultural resources,
starts in December and runs for two years, with the expectation that
the IU team will focus on protecting cannons, ship keel and other
items at the Kidd site.
The three other sites, including a replicated shipwreck and an
artificial reef created by a ship that was intentionally sunk, are
also in the waters off the Dominican Republic. The other site holds
cannons and other items thrown from a ship that ran around about 1500.
Beeker said he and his colleagues have met with tourism industry
officials, business owners and other groups to discuss the use and
protection of all the sites. He said the support of local dive shops
and hotels is critical to monitoring and protecting the preserves.