(RoyalPatriot.com )- After two major hurricanes swept through Florida this fall, the sand along Daytona Beach was eroded enough to expose a large unidentified wooden object that had been buried along the shore. And now, archeologists believe they know what the structure is.
The wood and metal object, which stretches between 80 and 100 feet, was discovered by members of the Volusia County Beach Safety and recent beachgoers, according to county officials.
Tamra Malphurs, a spokeswoman for Volusia County Beach Safety told the New York Times that some believe the wooden and metal object might be an “old ship of some sort.” Others theorize that the object could be a portion of an old pier or part of spectator seating that dates back to when NASCAR would race on the beaches of Daytona.
On Tuesday, after a group of archeologists uncovered the structure, the most likely conclusion was that the object was a ship.
According to Chuck Meide, the director of the Lighthouse Archeological Maritime Program at the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum, based on the construction of the object, “this is definitely a ship.” He said the size and arrangement of the massive timbers conform with how a ship is built.
Although the structure’s characteristics indicate a shipwreck, Meide said specific details about the ship’s history will be difficult to pinpoint.
Meide and the archeologists from the Florida Department of State Bureau of Archaeological Research and the Florida Public Archaeology Network will conduct an assessment to see if they can determine the “nature and condition of the wreck itself.”
It isn’t clear as yet how deteriorated the wreck is or how much of it has survived. Meide said the basic questions they hope to answer include the age of the wreck, its country of origin, and the purpose of the vessel.
Meide said the size and structure of the wreck suggest that the ship might have been from the 1800s.
