Blackbeard, The Queen Anne's Revenge and the QAR Project


Today the site of Queen Anne's Revenge is part of the National Register of Historic Places, being added nearly two decades ago in 2004. In total, hundreds of thousands of items believed to have come from the Queen Anne's Revenge have been found within the area, which is still being explored until this day!

Edward Teach (or Thatch depending on the source), or as you may know him, Blackbeard was one of the most well known and notorious pirates during the Golden Age of Piracy. He sailed in the West Indies, and along the Eastern Coast of what would become America from 1716 until his death in 1718. 
Blackbeard's Final Days—and How He Lost His Head - HISTORY
Blackbeard

While not a lot is known about Blackbeard's upbringing, many believe that he was born in Bristol, England around 1680. It is also widely accepted that before he took to piracy, he was part of either a merchant ship or a member of a Privateering vessel. One of Blackbeard's most famous ships, the Queen Anne's Revenge, was originally a French slave ship that Blackbeard claimed as his own in 1717. While he had only helmed the boat for less than a full year, Blackbeard had won many different battles and captured various prizes with her at the forefront of his fleet. 

In May of 1718, the Queen Anne's Revenge was grounded along what is now known as Beaufort Inlet off the coast of North Carolina. In 1994 the remains of this flagship were found sunken off the coast of this inlet. 

Since then, the QAR Project has been working to pull many different artifacts from the sea in that area of North Carolina. These artifacts of the time-period include things like upwards of 31 cannons, two anchors as well as items such as cannonballs and bronze bell dated to be from the early 1700s. 
Queen Anne's Revenge - Wikipedia
Queen Anne's Revenge


While not all of the artifacts found within that area can be directly connected to Blackbeard and his leading ship, there is plenty of evidence that many of the different things found were indeed part of his boat. 

In fact, part of the QAR Project involves a lab (The QAR Conservation Laboratory) located in Greenville. Here at the lab, scientists work to identify different artifacts found at the sight of the shipwreck. This lab includes things like x-radiography to help see past the hundreds of years of grime and rust that has built up on the objects from being in the sea. 

This process is a way to better determine the age of the artifact found.  

The other part of this research lab is helping with keeping many of these artifacts from deterioration when exposed to air for the first time in nearly 500 years. These workers at the lab, work to clean these artifacts to the point in which they are stable enough that they do not need to be kept in wet storage. 

The people at the QAR Project have worked over over the last twenty years to make sure that the history of Blackbeard and the Queen Anne's Revenge is well kept and can be shared with the public to keep the memory of this legendary pirate alive. 

Sources:
QAR Project Website:
Research Paper on Blackbeard by Mark Wilde-Ramsing and Richard W. Lawrence
Fact Sheet by the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources

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