Archaeologists discovered a mass grave of the richest pirate in history with a fortune of about $120 million and more than 140 accomplices.
According to Iflscience, “Black Sam” leader Bellamy is one of the most notorious pirates in the world. During the 18th century, the “Golden Age” of piracy, his piracy made him the richest pirate ever known, amassing the equivalent of $120 million in orders. price today.
Recently, archaeologists and scientists discovered what they believe to be the bones of him and 100 other pirates in a mass burial at Cape Cod in Massachusetts. This is considered the largest pirate burial ground in the United States, with 102 sets of remains after the ship Whydah sank in April 1717.
“We believe we have found the largest landfill in the United States,” team leader Casey Sherman told The Telegraph. “Over 100 pirates on the coast of Cape Cod, and our team believes we have found it.”
Black Sam is very popular with his sailors (Image: Pinterest)
Researchers are fairly confident they’ve found Bellamy’s remains at the scene as some of the remaining bones were found right next to a nicely decorated pistol that matches historical records of the gun commonly used by Bellamy. To confirm it is indeed the notorious pirate, scientists are currently conducting DNA tests on the femur, which they will compare with the DNA of a descendant of Bellamy living in the UK.
The ship ended its voyage on April 26, 1717, after encountering a major storm off the Massachusetts coast. Bellamy died at the age of 28, along with more than 140 crew members and her ship. However, two men survived: one, John Julian, an African-American who mysteriously disappeared, and Thomas Davis, a Welshman who was arrested and taken to court in Boston.
The Whydah was sunk in a storm off the coast of Massachusetts (Image: NezTune Videos For All)
Much of what we know about Whydah’s robberies is known by the evidence Davis presented during his trial. Now, with some evidence just found, researchers are hoping to uncover more about its adventures at sea.
The world’s richest pirate’s treasure
After 15 years of searching the seabed off the town of Wellfleet, Massachusetts, USA, treasure hunter Barry Clifford believes he has finally found the only pirate ship ever discovered in North America. Called the Whydah Galley, the ship was carrying a huge amount of treasure looted from at least 53 ships before sinking due to a storm on April 26, 1717, according to National Geographic.
After seeing a cannon on the seabed, Clifford was so happy that he jumped into the water to see for himself.
“There’s still a lot down here,” he told the team searching through his diving suit.
Clifford took from the ship a bag filled with sand and gold crumbs. “There’s a whole river of gold crumbs down here,” added Clifford.
Clifford is the one who directly dives to find the treasure (Artwork)
He went on to discover two pieces of Spanish silver. “Look at this,” he shouted over… and spread the excitement of finding the treasure to the entire 9-man crew. “The last time a person touched this silver, they were either taken away by pirates, or sold into slavery,” Clifford said.
Since finding the treasure, Clifford has mined more than 200,000 artifacts, including jewelry, gold coins, cannons and even ship bells. According to The Richest, the treasure from the Whydah Galley is endless and has been exploited for more than 30 years since it was found. This news site also estimates the treasure on the pirate ship has a total value of up to 400 million USD, or more than 9 trillion VND.
The story of the famous pirate ship
Built as a slave ship in 1715, the Whydah Gally is 30 meters long and weighs 300 tons. On its maiden voyage, it was robbed shortly after leaving amaica, according to New England Today.
Pirate Samuel Belamy, nicknamed Black Sam, believed to be the wealthiest pirate of his day, landed on ships, using ships to rob other ships’ wealth.
Model of pirate ship Whydah Gally weighs 300 tons
Belamy then sailed for the coast of Wellfleet, Massachusetts, where it was believed his lover was waiting.
But Whydah Gally never made it to the finish line. According to the story, the pirate crew was drunk and ecstatic, unable to get to their destination. Instead, they encountered a powerful storm on the night of April 26, 1717. Wind gusts up to 112 km / h caused violent seas, creating waves up to 9m high.
Although not too far from shore, the sailors on Whydah could not escape the storm and crashed into the shoal, shattering. Only 2 of the 146 people on board survived the shipwreck.
One of these two said the amount of treasure on the Whydah was very large, including 180 bags of gold and silver divided equally among the crew, stored in a chest, New England Today wrote.
Whydah carried the treasure stolen from 53 ships before sinking
When news of Whydah’s treasure spread, people flocked to the sea to search. Colonial governor Samuel Shute at the time sent people to find the treasure. However, his troops only found many corpses floating in the sea, nothing more, nothing less.
For the next two and a half centuries, Whydah continued to be a mystery. Many questions are raised without answers. Where is the shipwreck? Is there any treasure inside?
Historical treasures of pirates
After more than 260 years of sinking, the Whydah wreck was finally found by treasure hunter Barry Clifford in July 1984. After discovering gold dust and precious silver ingots, Clifford’s team continued to mine. Discover more evidence that this is the legendary pirate ship.
“You should come down here,” Clifford told his partner on the ship while he was scuba diving. “I found the bulk of the hull, with a lot of wood. Wow.”
Before that, Clifford had discovered many artifacts from the Whydah (including the ship bell inscribed “The Whydah Gally-1716”). However, he has yet to see any part of the ship’s hull, which is believed to contain the missing treasure.
The bell of the ship Whydah Gally
Later, Clifford’s partner also dived 9 meters deep in the sea with him and brought back a large piece of wood. Clifford went on to tell his collaborators: “I want more convincing evidence.
“The size and shape of this wreck below matches the Whydah. The wood looks old too. It’s in the right place and the artifacts lying around the ship resemble those collected earlier.
“I could be wrong, but for the time being, I would say it’s part of Whydah’s hull.”
But Clifford was not wrong. After this discovery, his expedition found much more evidence. They found fragments of pirate weapons, clothing, jewelry, and tools.
Pirate items taken from the Whydah Gally
The most common supplies in the wreck were birdshots and long-barreled ammunition, designed to counter a direct ship attacker. This finding shows that pirates of the time seemed to prefer close range combat to the use of destructive cannons.
In the end, alongside countless coins and weapons, the explorers found something truly impressive: a human foot bone in black leather boots. Paired with salvaged clothes, the bones show that the average pirate was about 1.6 meters tall, not a giant like a Hollywood movie.
The model of the Whydah Gally wreck is on display at the museum
Everything found in the wreck helps modern people better understand the world of North American pirates in the 18th century, how they dressed and how they fought.
Unlike other treasures for sale, thousands of artifacts taken from pirate ships are put on display for everyone to admire and learn.
In the summer of 2016, Clifford opened the Whydah Pirate Museum in West Yarmouth, Massachusetts – the only museum in the world to display recognized pirate ship treasures. Here, a replica of the same size of the ship Whydah Gally is also on display.
Clifford opened the Whydah Pirate Museum in the summer of 2016
Src: kenhthoisu.net
