(Image Source: Our Amazing Planet)

BY YUTAKA HAYASHI

Archaeologists discovered a 2,000 pound cannon in the wreckage of a 300-year-old ship.  That boat -- Queen Anne’s Revenge.  And the captain?  Legendary pirate Blackbeard.

According to The Guardian this is the 12th cannon to be recovered from the bottom of Beaufort Inlet.

The Queen Anne’s Revenge Project Director tells the Jacksonville Daily News about the experience:

“This has been giving us fits for almost two years now, last fall and this year, and I thought we wouldn’t get it up. I’m so happy to see it. It finally came out of the hole and what a beautiful day.”

The History Channel says the cannons could tell us what Blackbeard and his mateys were doing when Queen Anne hit the ocean floor:

“Of the 12 other cannons pulled from the site, four were found to be loaded, meaning that Blackbeard’s men were primed for battle when the ship went down. One even contained spikes designed to slash sails and terrorize adversaries.”

Slate Magazine highlights some of the lab’s other findings:

“Since 1996 the Queen Anne’s Revenge conservation lab has excavated 280,000 artifacts from the ship including cannons, grenades, bottles, and what no pirate could live without: gold.”

Although the pirate ship is bringing tourists to the North Carolina town, the project could still use some funding according to the Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Culture Resources.  

Here’s WNCT

“We went into the spring dive with an understanding that we still had about 50% of the artifacts left to be recovered. It is a slow process, and one that’s have been hampered for us because of funding, and we are very hopeful for being able to attract private funds to permit us to complete the removal of all the artifacts by 2013.”