Genuine antiques, as everyone knows, can be worth a small fortune. But what the crew that works for the
Namdeb Diamond Corporation found goes beyond antiques - they believe they've discovered a virtual treasure chest of material that could potentially be worth millions. And it could go as far back as 500 years.
This modern story of the ancient past started last month, when the company - a joint venture of the Namibia government and diamond broker De Beers - went prospecting for precious gems off the coast of the African country. They stumbled upon a few gold ingots and went to have a closer look.
Using expensive equipment and massive manpower, they actually managed to drain a stretch of seabed and began to get excited - the team found what looked like a few cannon barrels, evidence that an ancient ship may have sunk in the area.
But where was it and what was on board? The company immediately contacted experts, who are planning to dive looking for the long submerged wreck that most believe sailed in the 1400 or 1500's - around the time Christopher Columbus was active on the high seas.
"Based on the goods they were carrying, it's almost certain that it dates from that time," agrees John Broadwater, chief archaeologist at the
U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The discovery is stunning for those whose lives are inextricably intertwined with the past. "If you're mining on the coast, sooner or later you'll find a wreck," points out archaeologist Dieter Noli, who calls the find "what I'd been waiting for, for 20 years. Understandably, I was pretty excited. I still am."
The ship appears to have been carrying tons of copper ingots, elephant tusks, old Spanish and Portuguese money and gold coins which - while valuable back then - could be worth an astounding amount today.
Also highly prominent - a large number of cannons designed to fend off marauding pirates, anxious to get their hands on the booty.
Whatever the origin, there's little doubt about the value of what lies below. Noli speculates the large amount of copper could mean the ship was out hunting material to build more cannons, something a government would order. And the ivory trade was usually controlled by royal families, another intriguing clue.
But what about all those coins? "Either he [the captain] did a very, very good deal. Or he was a pirate," Noli responds. "I'm convinced we'll find out what the ship was and who the captain was."
It is almost impossible to conceive of the perilous journey this long lost ship may have taken. It was "a period when Africa was just being opened up, when the whole world was being opened up," relates Noli.
What caused it to sink? The archaeologist admits we may never know, but early examinations of the wood used to make it showed worms had gotten to the timber and there were many holes patched up, indicating the vessel was already old when it made its final journey.
The area is notorious for disorienting fogs and terrible storms, and without modern day equipment to guide sailors through it, the boat may have been easily destroyed.
"Sending a ship toward Africa in that period, that was venture capital in the extreme," Noli notes. "These chaps were very much on the edge as far as navigation. It was still very difficult for them to know where they were."
He also wonders if the heavy tusks discovered onboard could have shifted during a storm, tipping the ship and causing it to slowly disappear beneath the waves.
"The surf would have pounded that wreck to smithereens," he theorizes. "It's not like 'Pirates of the Caribbean,' with a ship more or less intact."
Noli and his colleague are planning to head for both Portugal and Spain, hoping historic records will reveal more about this ghost vessel. But he's sure they'll find the long lost answers they seek. "You don't turn a skipper loose with a cargo of that value and have no record of it," he concludes.
Officials won't know for sure just how much this newly discovered haul is worth until diving crews reach the depths for a closer look.
But even without the gold, the ivory and the other precious items onboard one thing is clear - the value for historians is already beyond price.
Photo courtesy: Namdeb Diamond Corporation