Historians theorize the foot-tall bell was taken from a captured vessel or a plundered port town. Pewter dishes made by London pewterer George Hammond date to the early 1700s. Two onion-shaped English wine bottles are circa 1714. A pewter syringe brought up last fall could be the renowned pirates mark. Blackbeard had blockaded Charleston's port for a week before heading up the coast toward Beaufort.
Some accounts say syphilis was widespread among the men.
A pair of chart dividers, also brought up in 1998, is identical to the navigational tool in use today. Other instruments recovered are not so recognizable. Some probably have to do with navigation. Many items might have been common aboard any ship of the times, Crow cautions. But they give us important evidence we hope to develop further.