16 mysterious pieces of paper exist for 300 years underwater in Blackbeard pirate ship

16 pieces of paper were found on Blackbeard's ship. This discovery will surely make pirate topic lovers curious.

The pieces of paper were found at the Queen Anne's Revenge of Blackbeard or Edward Thatch or Edward Teach . This rare discovery helps provide a better insight into documents such as books, diaries, . on the pirates' ships.

The pieces of paper on Queen Anne's Revenge.(Photo: North Carolina Department of National and Cultural Resources).

Scraps of paper were found flooded, and were stuffed inside a cannon. Surprisingly, it is rare for paper to survive after shipwrecks, especially more than 300 years ago.

Carefully analyzing 16 small pieces of paper, the researchers assembled them to visualize the story of the captain's adventure, like being told by a sailor.

Blackbeard only actually owned the Queen Anne's Revenge in about 6 months when he ran out of North Carolina, around May 1718, had to leave the ship and no one heard of it until 1996. .

Sketch the legendary Queen Anne's Revenge.(Photo: Ancient Origin).

Later, in the shipwreck excavation project, archaeologists picked up every fragment. Both conservation teams cleaned and carefully restored tens of thousands of artifacts, including weapons, everyday items such as bowls, pots, spoons, medical tools and other personal items such as cufflinks. lightning, belts and mouthpiece.

However, as the paper fell into the water, it quickly dissipated, so if the crew had books or diaries, they would no longer exist, except for these 16 small pieces of paper. Perhaps, they survived because they were cleaned and stuffed into a cannon. So, when cleaning up the cannon in 2016 and discovering the pieces of paper, conservationists thought it was only the cloths, which were inserted inside the gun like a wooden support pad. , to protect the cannon from intrusion from external factors.

About 7 out of 16 pieces of paper have written notes with very delicate content. Researchers when meticulously analyzed realized: all these pieces of paper were torn from the same book, because they were the same content.

Specifically, on pieces of paper there are words like 'fathom' (stride) and 'south' (male), but notably from Hilo - as a sign of direction. Conservationist Kimberly Kenyon talks with National Geographic: 'This word is very special because it is italicized and can refer to the name of a certain place'.

Of course, it is not Hilo (Hawaii) that has not appeared on the printouts until 1778, but that may be the Spanish Ilo settlements on the Peruvian coast - as described in the memoirs of a sailor named Edward Cooke about voyages, which are often passed down in sidewalk stories.

Cooke talked about the adventures of Duke and Dutchess - commanded by Captain Woodes Rogers - in 1708, 1709, 1710 and 1711, to the South Sea (Pacific, Oceania) and around the world.

Woodes Rogers, former pirate captain, later became Governor of Bahamas.(Photo: Wikipedia).

Both Cooke and Rogers have written memoirs about these trips, referring to the relief of Alexander Selkirk in the Juan Fernández Islands - the event that inspired Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe.

Who owns the books on Queen Anne's Revenge, and why are the pieces of paper inside the cannon? those questions will forever be a mystery.

Legendary Blackbeard Pirates, who cried horribly throughout the American seas, are often mentioned in the works of Daniel Defoe or Charles Johnson.(Photo: Wikipedia).

However, the finding is an important testament to the existence of books on pirate ships in the early 18th century. Although some notes also mention books on the fleet of Black Beard, but no one ever knew them.

Currently, people are trying to preserve pieces of paper, and they will appear in a special exhibition, celebrating the 300th anniversary of Black Bear's death later this year.