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In 2010, during routine work on the site where the World Trade Center once stood ("Ground Zero"), construction workers clearing rubble and earth started finding wooden beams - a material not commonly used in construction of skyscrapers. |
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As they were clearing the area, they kept finding more and more of the beams, and realized that professionals should be called in. |
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Archaeologists started carefully clearing up the area and made and amazing discovery, they found a ship. An old ship, about 60-70 feet long (18-21 meters). |
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Wood samples were collected and sent for testing, and the results showed that the ship was indeed very old. The timber used for the construction was from trees, cut at around 1770 in the Philadelphia area, meaning that the ship was about 240 years old! |
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Below you can see one of the pieces of wood, showing signs that it was infested by Caribbean woodworms. |
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Before the remains of the ship were transported for more research and preservation, the site was scanned and the wood was carefully cataloged. |
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(Photographs by livescience.com) |
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| (Photograph by Lucas Jackson, Reuters) |
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It's currently unclear how this ship ended up 22 feet (6.5 meters) under current street-level. It's possible that it sank due to an accident or the woodworm infestation. Alternatively, it might have been was deliberately sunk as part of a landfill to expand the island of Manhattan. What do YOU think? |
