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The Archaeology of Piracy Scroll To Dig Deeper …

The 1960s saw the birth of pirate archaeology. However, difficulties identifying a ‘pirate’ site and ethical dilemmas surrounding treasure hunting hindered its development.[1] As piracy is a behavioural act that only differs from other seafarers in the legality of their actions not in the objects they use, it is tricky to differentiate a ‘pirate’ site.[2] Work that has been done has focused on shipwrecks as the absence of common cargo items and the lack of standardised weaponry can distinguish a pirate ship from a naval or merchant one.[3]

The Plunder of Piracy? The Pottery Assemblage from Ratcliff, Limehouse

Ratcliff was a centre of shipbuilding from the mid-14th-century and served as a dock from 1401. Excavations here, in 2000, uncovered an intriguing pottery assemblage that was theorised to represent plunder that had been acquired during privateering ventures. Indeed, wares from all other Europe - particularly Iberia, Italy, England, Portugal, the Netherlands, Venice, Spain, and Germany- were represented in the assemblage. Significantly, the Spanish and Portuguese vessels also date to the mid-17th century which coincided with English colonial expansion into North America which began with the settlement of Jamestown in 1604. Historical records show how many mariners living at Ratcliff were privateers captains, authorised by letters of marque in 1626-1629, to attack the Spanish. Archaeologists ruled out the theory that these vessels were obtained through trade as they dated to a time when England and Spain were at war, and the vessels were too varied to represent batches of traded pottery.[4]

Figure 1: An archaeological drawing showing some of the imported wares found at the site. From:‘Pottery: Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian Ceramics’, in Killock, D & Meddens, F, ‘Pottery as plunder: a 17th century maritime site in Limehouse, London’, Post-Medieval Archaeology, Vol. 39/1 (2005), 39.

Figure 2: An annotated archaeological drawing of one of the Spanish imported wares found among the assemblage. From: ‘Pottery: Spanish, Turkish, and Portuguese Ceramics’, in Killock, D & Meddens, F, ‘Pottery as plunder: a 17th century maritime site in Limehouse, London’, Post Medieval Archaeology, Vol.39/1 (2005), 47.
Figure 3( Top Left Image): An annotated image showing the known occupiers of certain buildings at Ratcliff. Many of these also served as privateers. From: ‘Property boundaries and occupiers based on documentary evidence’, in Killock, D & Meddens, F, ‘Pottery as plunder: a 17th century maritime site in Limehouse, London’, Post Medieval Archaeology, Vol.39/1 (2005), 4. Figure 4 (Bottom Right Image): Morgan’s map of 1682 showing what Ratcliff would have looked like during the mid-17th century. From: ‘Morgan’s map of 1682’, Guildhall Library, Corporation of London, in Killock, D & Meddens, F, ‘Pottery as plunder: a 17th century maritime site in Limehouse, London’, Post Medieval Archaeology, Vol.39/1 (2005), 34.

Pirates & Ports

England seized Port Royal in 1655 and to prevent Spain from trying to reclaim it, the Governor of Jamaica invited privateers to the port and granted them letters of marque authorising them to attack Spanish shipping and colonies. The plundering of Spanish ships meant Spain was unable to supply the demand for manufactured goods in their New World colonies; this provided the opportunity for Port Royal privateers to engage in trade (of slaves) with Spain. By allowing the English to enter Spanish ports to exchange the slaves, merchants were provided with a new outlet to dispose of stolen goods. The affluence this piratical activity generated can be seen archaeologically in the prevalence of brick multi-storey buildings, the high building density, and vast arrays of prestigious ceramic styles which included crystal glasses and silver nutmeg grinders.[5]

Figure 5: A newspaper depiction of what Port Royal would have looked like at the time when it was hit by an earthquake in 1692. From: ‘A True and Perfect Relation of the most Sad and Terrible Earthquake, at Port-Royal in Jamaica, Which happened on Tuesday the 7th June, 1692’, British Library, via Editors of National Geographic, ‘How the ‘wickedest city on Earth’ was sunk by an earthquake’ [website] (29 July 2022), <https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/history-magazine/article/how-the-wickedest-city-on-earth-was-sunk-by-an-earthquake> (last accessed 13 February 2023).

Remnants of Raids & Razing

Captain Morgan’s raid on Panama in 1671 can be seen in the fire damage left on the ruins of the Cabildo building. Below the debris from the collapsed roof, a layer of soil and ash was found which has been interpreted as remains from the fire. Further, the masonry walls and sections of the cobbled floor were discoloured. Strangely, contrary to the historical record which stated that the whole port was razed, the fire damage was restricted to the Cabildo, the Spanish seat of administration, as the wooden houses on the Plaza Mayor’s western flank divulged no traces of this fire. Indeed, roofing tiles and iron nails were found directly above the cobble floor indicating that the roof collapsed due to abandonment not fire damage.[6]

Figure 6: ‘Privateer and politician, Henry Morgan operated out of Port Royal, Jamaica, during his 1600s heyday’, North Wind Picture Archives, via Editors of National Geographic, ‘How the ‘wickedest city on Earth’ was sunk by an earthquake’ [website] (29 July 2022), <https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/history-magazine/article/how-the-wickedest-city-on-earth-was-sunk-by-an-earthquake> (last accessed 13 February 2023).

Figure 7: A depiction of Morgan’s sack on Panama in 1671. The smoke clouds show the city being razed by the pirates. From: ‘Pirates Sack Panama in 1671 raid by Captain Henry Morgan on the Spanish treasure house shown by Exquemelin’, via Lordprice Collection, ‘Henry Morgan Stock Photos and Images’, Alamy [website], (N.d.), <https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-pirates-sack-panama-1671-raid-by-captain-henry-morgan-on-the-spanish-15978373.html> (last accessed 13 February 2023).

Steps & Slaughter

Figure 8: An annotated image showing how pirate stairs have been interpreted as evidence of piratical activities. From: Kelleher, C, ‘Looking down the Crookhaven Steps, via Mullally, E., ‘How a Secret Map Brought Down a Pirate Alliance on the Irish Coast’, Atlas Obscura [website], (29 September 2020), <https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/secret-irish-pirate-republic> (last accessed 13 February 2023).

Shipwrecks

Figure 9: A map showing the location of shipwreck sites within the Caribbean that have been positively identified as specific pirate ships. From: Soulat, J., ‘Location map of pirate shipwrecks identified and attested by archaeology’, in Soulat, J. & de Bry, J., ‘Archaeology of Piracy Between Caribbean Sea and the North American Coast of 17th and 18th Centuries: Shipwrecks, Material Culture and Terrestrial Perspectives’, Journal of Caribbean Archaeology, Vol.19 (2019), p77.

Blackbeard’s Queen Anne’s Revenge

Originally, La Concorde was a French ship involved in the 17th/18th-century Triangle of Trade which involved the exchange of manufactured goods, slaves, and products like sugar, rum, and tobacco between Europe, Africa, and the New World.[8] In 1717, with the French crew weakened by 16 deaths and outbreaks of scurvy and dysentery, Blackbeard captured the vessel off the Island of Martinique, renamed it, and made it his flagship.[9] However, when approaching Beaufort Inlet, it ran aground on a sandbar and was abandoned.[10] It wasn’t until 1996 when a search team funded by Intersal found the remains.[11].

Figure 10: A photograph of a reconstruction of the Queen Anne’s Revenge. From: Hodges, B., ‘Blackbeard’s Lost Plunder’, Georgia State University Magazine [website], (2018), <https://news.gsu.edu/magazine/winter2018/blackbeards-lost-plunder> (last accessed 16 February 2023).

Figure 11: A annotated photograph of the wreck of the Queen Anne’s Revenge. From: Pacheco-Ruiz, R. ‘Centuries of Preserved Shipwrecks Found in the Black Sea’, via Drye, W., ‘Blackbeard’s Ship Confirmed off North Carolina’, National Geographic [website], (29 August 2011), <https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/history-and-civilisation/2017/11/blackbeards-ship-discovered-off-north-carolina> (last accessed 13 February 2023).
Figure 12: An annotated photograph of the five canons that were recovered from the site. From: Queen Anne’s Revenge Project, ‘Cannon’, Queen Anne’s Revenge Project [website], (n.d.), <https://www.qaronline.org/conservation/artifacts/arms-and-armament/cannon> (last accessed 13 February 2023).

Interesting finds …

Figure 13: An annotated photograph of the langrage that was found. From: Page, C., ‘Langrage’, Queen Anne’s Revenge Project [website], (3 February 2018), <https://www.QAR online.org/conservation/artifacts/arms-and-armament/langrage> (last accessed 13 February 2023).
Figure 14: An annotated photograph of a fragment of the flacon glass that was found at the site. From: Queen Anne’s Revenge Project, ‘Flacon Glass Bottle’, Queen Anne’s Revenge Project [website], (n.d.), <https://www.qaronline.org/conservation/artifacts/sustenance/flacon-glass-bottle> (last accessed 13 February 2023).
Figure 15: An annotated photograph of one of the anchors that was found at the site of the wreck. From: Atkinson, S., ‘Artifact of the Month: A Heavy Loss’, Queen Anne’s Revenge Project [website], (1 September 2017), <https://www.qaronline.org/blog/2017-09-01/artifact-month-anchor> (last accessed 13 February 2023).

Contend’s The Fiery Dragon

In 2010, a ship wreck was discovered off the coast of Madagascar. Originally, archaeologists thought it was the remains of Captain Kidd’s Adventure Galley, however, a Dutch gold ducat dating to 1718 and Chinese porcelain fragments, whose foot shape and decorative patterns suggest they were manufactured in Jingezhen during the Kangxi period (1622-1722), disproved this hypothesis as the Adventure Galley was sunk in 1698. Instead, the wreck is believed to be the remains of a large sailing vessel called the Fiery Dragon which was captained by Christopher Contend and was scuttled in Sainte-Marie harbour in 1721.[17]

Figure 16: A representation of Christopher Contend. From: The Way of the Pirates., ‘Christopher Contend’, The Way of the Pirates [website], (2023), <http://www.thewayofthepirates.com/famous-pirates/christopher-contend/> (last accessed 16 February 2023).

Figure 17 (Left): A photograph of gold coins and Chinese porcelain sherds in situ on the wreck. From: Caloyianis, N, ‘John de Bry on the wreck of the Fiery Dragon’, Discovery Channel, in de Bry, J, ‘Fiery Dragon: An Early Eighteenth-Century Shipwreck off Madagascar’, in Skowronek, R., & Ewen, C (eds.), X Marks the Spot: The Archaeology of Piracy, (Florida, 2006), 129. Figure 18 (Bottom Right): A map of Sainte-Marie Harbour. From: Archaeologie De La Piraterie., ‘Sainte-Marie Island, Madagascar’, Lile Sainte-Marie [website], (n.d.), <http://archeologiedelapiraterie.fr/en/projets-de-recherche/ile-sainte-marie-madagascar> (last accessed 16 February 2023). Figure 19 (Top Right): A photograph of the gold Dutch ducat whose date helped to disprove the original identification of the wreck as that of the Adventure Galley. From: de Bry, J, ‘Gold ducat from the Low Counrties dated 1718, minted in the city of Utrecht, Netherlands’, in de Bry, J, ‘Fiery Dragon: An Early Eighteen-Century Shipwreck off Madagascar’, in Skowronek, R., & Ewen, C (eds.), X Marks the Spot: The Archaeology of Piracy, (Florida,2006), 119.

Interesting finds…

Figure 20: An annotated photograph of the blue-and-white Chinese porcelain fragments that feature the phoenix motif. From: de Bry, J, ‘Blue-and-white Chinese export porcelain cup fragments displaying the phoenix symbol’, in de Bry, J, ‘Fiery Dragon: An Early Eighteenth-Century Shipwreck off Madagascar’, in Skowronek, R., & Ewen, C (eds.), X Marks the Spot: The Archaeology of Piracy, (Florida,2006), 124.
Figure 21: An annotated photograph of a nutmeg seed which would have been like the one found aboard the Fiery Dragon. From: The Editors of Encyclopaedia., ‘Nutmeg’, Encyclopedia Britannica [website], (9 December 2022), <https://www.britannica.com/topic/nutmeg> (last accessed 16 February 2023).

References:

[1] J. Soulat, & J. De Bry, ‘Archaeology of Piracy Between Caribbean Sea and the North American Coast of 17th and 18th Centuries: Shipwrecks, Material Culture, and Terrestrial Perspectives’, Journal of Caribbean Archaeology, vol.19 (2019), 71.

[2] C. Page, & C. Ewen, ‘Recognising a Pirate Shipwreck without the Skull and Crossbones’, in C. Ewen, & R. Skowronek (eds.), Pieces of Eight:More Archaeology of Piracy (Florida,2017), 260.

[3] R. Skowronek, ‘Setting a Course towards an Archaeology of Piracy’, in C. Ewen, & R. Skowronek (eds.), Pieces of Eight:More Archaeology of Piracy (Florida, 2017), 12.

[4] D. Killock, & F. Meddens, ‘Pottery as Plunder: a 17th-century maritime site in Limehouse, London’, Post-Medieval Archaeology, vol.39/1 (2005), 3, 19-21, 23, 30, & 81-82.

[5] D. Hamilton, ‘Pirates & Merchants: Port Royal, Jamaica’, in R. Skowronek, & C. Ewen (eds.), X Marks the Spot: The Archaeology of Piracy (Gainesville, 2006), 13-17.

[6] F. Hanselmann et al, ‘Plundering the Spanish Main: Henry Morgan’s Raid in Panama’, in C. Ewen, & R. Skowronek (eds.), Pieces of Eight: More Archaeology of Piracy (Florida, 2017), 153-155.

[7] C. Kelleher, ‘Ireland’s Golden Age of Piracy: History, Cartography, and Emerging Archaeology’, in C. Ewen, & R. Skowronek (eds.), Pieces of Eight: More Archaeology of Piracy (Florida, 2017), 179-181.

[8] M. Wilde-Ramsing, & L. Carnes-McNaughton, ‘Blackbeard’s Queen Anne’s Revenge and its French Connections’, in C. Ewen, & R. Skowronek (eds.), Pieces of Eight: More Archaeology of Piracy (Florida, 2017), 18.

[9] Queen Anne’s Revenge Project, ‘The Ship’s Journey’, Queen Anne’s Revenge Project [website] (n.d.), <https://www.qaronline.org/history/ships-journey> (last accessed 14 February 2023).

[10] M. Wilde-Ramsing, & L. Carnes-McNaughton, ‘Blackbeard’s Queen Anne’s Revenge and its French Connections’, in C. Ewen, & R. Skowronek (eds.), Pieces of Eight: More Archaeology of Piracy (Florida, 2017), 20.

[11] Queen Anne’s Revenge Project, ‘Discovery of the Shipwreck’, Queen Anne’s Revenge Project [website] (n.d.), < https://www.qaronline.org/history/discovery-shipwreck> (last accessed 14 February 2023).

[12] M. Wilde-Ramsing, & L. Carnes-McNaughton, ‘Blackbeard’s Queen Anne’s Revenge and its French Connections’, in C. Ewen, & R. Skowronek (eds.), Pieces of Eight: More Archaeology of Piracy (Florida, 2017), 15 & 17.

[13] M. Wilde-Ramsing, & L. Carnes-McNaughton, ‘Blackbeard’s Queen Anne’s Revenge and its French Connections’, in C. Ewen, & R. Skowronek (eds.), Pieces of Eight: More Archaeology of Piracy (Florida, 2017), 26-28.

[14] M. Wilde-Ramsing, ‘The Pirate Ship Queen Anne’s Revenge’, in R. Skowronek, & C. Ewen (eds.), X Marks the Spot: The Archaeology of Piracy (Gainesville, 2006), p183-184.

[15] M. Wilde-Ramsing, & L. Carnes-McNaughton, ‘Blackbeard’s Queen Anne’s Revenge and its French Connections’, in C. Ewen, & R. Skowronek (eds.), Pieces of Eight: More Archaeology of Piracy (Florida, 2017), 40.

[16] M. Wilde-Ramsing, ‘The Pirate Ship Queen Anne’s Revenge’, in R. Skowronek, & C. Ewen (eds.), X Marks the Spot: The Archaeology of Piracy (Gainesville, 2006), 176.

[17] J. De Bry, & M. Rolina, ‘Revisiting the Fiery Dragon’, in C. Ewen, & R. Skowronek (eds.), Pieces of Eight: More Archaeology of Piracy (Florida, 2017), 57 & 74-75.

[18] J. De Bry, ‘Christopher Contend’s Fiery Dragon: Investigating an Early Eighteenth-Century Pirate Shipwreck off the Coast of Madagascar’, in R. Skowronek, & C. Ewen (eds.), X Marks the Spot: The Archaeology of Piracy (Gainesville, 2006), 117-121 & 123-124.

[19] J. De Bry, & M. Rolina, ‘Revisiting the Fiery Dragon’, in C. Ewen, & R. Skowronek (eds.), Pieces of Eight: More Archaeology of Piracy (Florida, 2017), 79.

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