Archaeologist Examines Shipwreck Exposed on Maine Beach

YORK BEACH, MAINE—Last week, marine archaeologist Stefan Claesson examined the remains of a wooden ship’s hull that was exposed after up to eight feet of sand eroded from Maine’s Short Sands Beach during a storm. According to a report in Seacoast Online, the wreckage was first exposed in 1958, and was seen again in 2007 and 2103. During the latter two appearances, the Maine Historic Preservation Commission took the opportunity to map the hull, and learned it had been a 60-foot, flat-bottomed vessel, likely to have been built between 1750 and 1850. Such boats had narrow sterns and were used to carry goods along the coast from port to port. The researchers also learned that balsam fir, yellow birch, beech, and red pine had been used in the construction of the ship. In this most recent encounter with the wreckage, Claesson collected samples to send to a dendrochronology lab. A study of the tree rings could “hopefully shed some light on this, because no one knows the history of the ship for certain,” Claesson said. “This will be the first time that this kind of work has been done.” Claesson also brought a drone to the site to collect additional data and create a 3-D model of the wreckage. To read about another shipwreck, go to “Is it Esmeralda?”