Blackbeard, the world's most famous pirate, lost his flagship in 1718 when the ship ran aground on a sandbar in North Carolina. But in 1996, the wreck of the Queen Anne's Revenge was rediscovered, and archaeologists began excaviting the ship. 
 
 Since then, the excavation project has revealed that the ship contained many medical instruments of the day, hinting that Blackbeard put great effort into keeping his crew healthy. [Full story: Blackbeard's Booty: Pirate Ship Yields Medical Supplies] 
 
 Here is a look at the instruments found aboard the ship. 
 
 This image shows a mortar and pestle, made of cast brass, which would have been used to prepare medicine. Photo credit: North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources 
 
 These nesting weights go one inside the other allowing them to be carried compactly. They also would have been used to help prepare medicine. Two sets like this one were found on Blackbeard's ship. Photo credit: North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources 
 
 This urethral syringe was used to treat syphilis, a sexually transmitted disease that can be fatal. Chemical analysis shows that it contained mercury, which was commonly used to treat people with syphilis during the early 18th century. Although mercury may alleviate some of the symptoms taking too much of it can be fatal. Photo credit: North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources 
 
 This image shows the remains of a clyster pump that was found on Blackbeard's ship. The remains of two pumps were found on the wreck. These devices would have been used to pump fluid into the rectum, allowing the body to quickly absorb it. Photo credit: North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources 
 
 A fragment of a small jar or basin that would have held medicinal material. Photo credit: North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources 
 
 This silver needle may have been used for surgery. Photo credit: North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources 
 
 This image shows an x-ray of a pair of scissors that were found attached to part of the wreck site. These scissors could also have been used in surgery. Photo credit: North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources 
 
 The excavation and study of the Queen Anne's Revenge is an ongoing project. This image shows work being carried out on the artifacts. Photo credit: North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources 
 
 Follow Live Science @livescience, Facebook & Google+. ||||| This urethral syringe was used to treat syphilis, a sexually transmitted disease that can be fatal. Chemical analysis shows that it contained mercury, which was commonly used to treat people with syphilis during the early 18th century. Although mercury may alleviate some of the symptoms taking too much of it can be fatal. 
 
 Archaeologists are excavating the vessel that served as the flagship of the pirate Blackbeard, and the medical equipment they have recovered from the shipwreck suggests the notorious buccaneer had to toil to keep his crew healthy. 
 
 Blackbeard is the most famous pirate who ever lived. His real name was Edward Teach (or possibly Thatch), and his flagship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, was formerly a French slave vessel named La Concorde de Nantesthat Blackbeard captured in November 1717. Blackbeard was able to capture this ship easily because much of its crew was either sick or dead due to disease. 
 
 A few months into 1718, the Queen Anne's Revenge ran aground on a sandbar at Topsail Inlet in North Carolina. Blackbeard abandoned much of his crew at that point, leaving the site with a select group of men and most of the plunder. He was killed in battle later that year. 
 
 The wreck of the Queen Anne's Revenge was rediscovered in 1996 and has been under excavation by the Queen Anne's Revenge Project. Archaeologists have recovered many artifacts, including a number of medical instruments. These artifacts, combined with historical records, paint a picture of a pirate captain who tried to keep his crew in fighting shape. 
 
 "Treating the sick and injured of a sea-bound community on shipboard was challenging in the best of times," Linda Carnes-McNaughton, an archaeologist and curator with the Department of Defense who volunteers her time on the excavation project, wrote in a paper she presented recently at the Society for Historical Archaeology annual meeting. [Photos: The Medical Instruments Found on Blackbeard's Ship] 
 
 The people on a ship like Blackbeard's would have had to contend with many conditions, including "chronic and periodic illnesses, wounds, amputations, toothaches, burns and other indescribable maladies," Carnes-McNaughton said. 
 
 Blackbeard's surgeons 
 
 In fact, maintaining the crew's health was so important that when Blackbeard turned the Queen Anne's Revenge into his flagship, he released most of the French crew members he had captured, but he forced the ship's three surgeons to stay, along with a few other specialized workers like carpenters and the cook, Carnes-McNaughton said. 
 
 She noted, however, that "The Sea-Man's Vade Mecum" of 1707,which contained the rules that seafarers were supposed to follow, had a provision stating that surgeons could not leave their ship until its voyage was complete. 
 
 Carnes-McNaughton investigated both the La Concorde de Nantes'crew muster, which is the document that lists crew members' names and salaries, as well as court records to learn more about the surgeons Blackbeard captured. 
 
 The ship's muster indicates that La Concorde de Nantes'surgeon major was a man named Jean Dubou (or Dubois), from St. Etienne. Before he was captured by Blackbeard, Dubou was being paid 50 livres for his work on the ship's voyage. The second surgeon was Marc Bourgneuf of La Rochelle, who was paid 30 livres for the voyage. 
 
 The third surgeon was Claude Deshayes, who was listed as a gunsmith on the muster and paid 22 livres for his work. The muster also names a surgeon's aide, Nicholas Gautrain, who was paid 12 livres. Although he is named on the muster, Gautrain is not mentioned in court records. 
 
 Medical equipment 
 
 When archaeologists excavated the Queen Anne's Revenge they found a number of medical instruments, some with marks that indicate they were manufactured in France. Carnes-McNaughton said that Dubou and his aides were required to supply their own medical equipment, and Blackbeard likely captured this equipment when he captured the surgeons. [The 7 Most Mysterious Archaeological Finds on Earth] 
 
 Among the finds was a urethral syringe that chemical analysis indicates originally contained mercury. Carnes-McNaughton told Live Science that this would have been used to treat syphilis, a sexually transmitted disease. "Eventually the mercury kills you," she said, explaining that the patient could suffer mercury poisoning. 
 
 Archaeologists also found the remains of two pump clysters. These would have been used to pump fluid into the rectum, allowing it to be absorbed quickly, Carnes-McNaughton said. It's not clear exactly why this would have been done, but there are plans to analyze the clysters to find out what material they contained before the ship was wrecked. 
 
 An instrument called a porringer was also found, which may have been used in bloodletting treatments, Carnes-McNaughton said. People in the early 18th century believed that bloodletting could cure some conditions and a modern-day form of the treatment is still used for a few conditions. 
 
 Archaeologists also found a cast brass mortar and pestle and two sets of nesting weights, devices that would have been used in preparing medicine. The remains of galley pots were also found that would have been used to store balms, salves and other potions. 
 
 Some items were found that could have been used medically or non-medically, Carnes-McNaughton said, including a silver needle and the remains of scissors, which could have been handy during surgeries. Two pairs of brass set screws were also found that may have been used in a tourniquet, a device that limits bleeding during amputations. 
 
 Carnes-McNaughton said she is going to compare the medical equipment from Queen Anne's Revenge to those found on other wrecks. 
 
 Getting medicine 
 
 But although the captured surgeons had medical equipment, Blackbeard would have still needed a supply of medicine to treat his crew. He got somein 1718, after he spent a week blockading the port of Charleston, South Carolina. Blackbeard captured ships that tried to get past him, holding their crew and passengers hostage. 
 
 When it came time to parley with the governor of South Carolina, a chest of medicine was demanded. Blackbeard threatened that he "would murder all their prisoners, send up their heads to the governor, and set the ships they had taken on fire," if the governor didn't deliver the medicine chest, writes Capt. Charles Johnson, who published an account of Blackbeard in 1724. The governor promptly complied and the prisoners were released. 
 
 In the end, Blackbeard's efforts to keep up his crew's health didn't change the pirate's own fate when he was hunted down in November 1718 by the Royal Navy. 
 
 Blackbeard was in good enough shape that he is said to have put up a terrific final fight while trying to board an enemy ship. "He stood his ground and fought with great fury, till he received five and 20 wounds, and five of them by shot," Johnson wrote. "At length, as he was cocking another pistol, having fired several before, [when] he fell down dead." 
 
 Follow Live Science @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Originally published on Live Science. ||||| BEAUFORT | Two of the cannons recovered from the Queen Anne’s Revenge shipwreck site near Beaufort Inlet are front and center at the newly expanded exhibit of artifacts, but even the smallest of discoveries is being showcased with a new flair. 
 
 The Queen Anne’s Revenge exhibit at the North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort has been expanded to include new features and artifacts not previously shown. The new exhibit opened to the public Saturday with an 11 a.m. ribbon-cutting kicking off the opening day activities. 
 
 One noticeable change for those who have visited the exhibit in the past is the relocation of several cannons that had been on display toward the rear of the exhibit area. 
 
 “People were missing them so we wanted them to be up front and present,” said Lynn Anderson, collections manager for the museum. 
 
 The move meant relocating a 1,700-pound, 6-pounder cannon, which now sits in a display at the entrance to the exhibit. The display also includes a smaller 1-pounder cannon and swivel cannon along with cannonballs, lead shot and other related artifacts. 
 
 Museum educator Christine Brin stops to point out a new artifact: a vial of gunpowder recovered from a 4-pounder cannon that has been raised from the site. 
 
 “That’s one of the most exciting pieces to me; that’s 300-year-old gunpowder. We have a lot of new artifacts on display,” she said. 
 
 The maritime museum is the official repository for artifacts recovered from the QAR shipwreck, which has been confirmed to be the flagship of the infamous pirate Blackbeard, which sank off the coast of Beaufort after running aground nearly 300 years ago. 
 
 Artifacts raised from the site are put on public display after going through a conservation process. 
 
 One of the highlights of the new exhibit is a demonstration lab that will help to educate visitors about the conservation process by giving them a window-view into work going on inside. 
 
 Anderson said that she’ll be able to do work such as cleaning collection artifacts. On Wednesdays, conservators from the QAR lab in Greenville, where all artifacts are taken after being raised from the wreck site, will be on hand at the museum to show some conservation techniques and answer questions from visitors. 
 
 “The primary purpose will be interpretive and to help explain the process,” Anderson said. 
 
 Nearby is another new feature, which allows visitors to get a closer look at some of the smallest of artifacts. 
 
 With the help of a magnifying glass that slides over each artifact, visitors can view the details of small items such as coins and jewelry fragments. 
 
 Brin is drawn to a small square game piece, one of the smallest artifacts on display, that was likely used in a game like checkers. 
 
 “I like artifacts that, when visitors come in, they can really relate to them. We’ve all played a game like checkers,” she said. 
 
 In an exhibit case just across from one displaying the weapons used by pirates, Brin notes a number of artifacts more relevant to the daily lives of those who were aboard the Queen Anne’s Revenge, such as plates, cookware and other items. 
 
 Among the newest artifacts are large fragments of a cast-iron, three-legged, two-handled pot or cauldron, likely used for cooking or heating tar or pitch for waterproofing hull structure and rigging. 
 
 “This case helps visitors understand that pirates were not always fighting; they were also sailors,” Brin said. 
 
 As visitors stroll through the exhibit they’ll also get a look at a diorama of the wreck site as it looks on sea floor and a display of items used by underwater archaeologists as they dive at the site. 
 
 The North Carolina Maritime Museum has been the official repository for QAR artifacts and offered a small exhibit of artifacts since 1997. A permanent exhibit opened at the museum in June 2011 and continues with the latest updates. 
 
 The newly expanded exhibit was made possible by donations of $31,000 from the Beaufort Wine & Food event and $10,000 from the Friends of the North Carolina Maritime Museum. 
 
 Jannette Pippin is a reporter for the Jacksonville Daily News.
– The wreckage of the pirate Blackbeard's ship has yielded some fascinating finds, from swords to cannons. Some of the "treasure," however, offers a look at a very different side of his crew's life. Researchers have discovered an array of medical artifacts on the ship, called the Queen Anne's Revenge, which ran aground off North Carolina in 1718, LiveScience reports. Among them is a urethral syringe that once contained mercury, which was used as a syphilis treatment, researcher Linda Carnes-McNaughton says. That might have caused more problems than it solved. "Eventually, the mercury kills you" if you take too much, Carnes-McNaughton notes. Also discovered were what's left of two devices, known as pump clysters, intended for sending fluid into one's rectum. Researchers plan further investigation to figure out just why the crew needed them. The ship also contained equipment likely used for bloodletting. Sure, Blackbeard might have been vicious, but he did seem to care about health, Carnes-McNaughton explains. When he captured the ship, he let most of its crew go—but not the surgeons. And in a blockade of Charleston, Blackbeard's primary demand was for a medicine chest, the Smithsonian reports. LiveScience has images of the equipment that's been discovered; if you'd like to see Blackbeard's gear up close, some of it is on display in a newly updated exhibit in North Carolina, the Sun Journal reports. (Also found in the wreckage: proof of terror.)