Discovery of anchors may point to the remains of the ships that invaded Mexico
It might be a bit of a stretch, but some marine archaeologists are excited about some iron anchors they found.
Underwater archaeologists have found two iron anchors just offshore from the spot Hernán Cortés first set foot in Mexico, raising hopes that the fleet which the conquistador scuttled in 1519 may soon be rediscovered.
The anchors were excavated from under a metre of sediment in the Gulf of Mexico near Villa Rica, the settlement Cortes founded upon landing 500 years ago in what is now the Mexican state of Veracruz.
Cortés scuttled his ships in an attempt to prevent a mutiny by some of his men who wanted to return to Cuba, where their unauthorized expedition had originated.
Before sinking the fleet, Cortés is believed to have salvaged materials such as the sails and metal items – which were used to establish the settlement at Villa Rica.
Cortés scuttled his ships in an attempt to prevent a mutiny by some of his men who wanted to return to Cuba, where their unauthorized expedition had originated.
Before sinking the fleet, Cortés is believed to have salvaged materials such as the sails and metal items – which were used to establish the settlement at Villa Rica.
The ship in the illustration is not one of the Cortez fleet, I hasten to say. It is a Dutch East Indiaman of the same era, painted by some long-dead Japanese artist. I found it in the basement gallery of the castle at Shimabara
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