Alejandro's Update on the Preciosa Site - Part 2
Alejandro explaining his view of the wreck in Playa Preciosa.
He wrote his version in Spanish and translated it using Google.
Today Billy and I concentrate on locating the wreck of Playa Preciosa, which is under the sand within a square kilometer is the average concentration of the material remains that we have recovered. By this time the coins, silver disks, artifacts and pottery shards polished by the movement for years that we have recovered are the product of major hurricanes that threw everything to the beach, leaving these dammed at the base of an ancient reef is covered sand up to 2 meters in a time
of year.
I say this because the nails, and iron do not indicate that
we have found come from the hull structure of the ship, and probably are part of the rigging of the ship. Within the study I did on the reef, and which I have seen, the silver went to the beach in a second time, after the wreck, and most likely after the hull timbers were destroyed over time exposing higher load of heavy current caused by hurricanes and storm surges.
Now the task is to locate the positions of artifacts recovered the rest of the hull of the ship, as though there was no wood, would be on the site, a lot of nails in symmetrical
positions, anchors and cannons and the biggest indicator, the lamina Lead lining the keel of the ship in the breakwater. We know that much of the treasure is somewhere in that area and the ship that we may have lost on their way back to Spain and its history just beneath the waters of Playa Preciosa.
We have data from two ships lost in the
North area within our concession and are the galleon San Roque and
Santa Maria de las Nieves who disappeared in 1565, but by the time I would say it could be a ship like Ines de Soto is not known whether it belonged to the same fleet of 1554 or did the rescue and one of the galleons of the fleet. I dare to believe in a boat actually lost their way and for a hurricane look like the San Miguel protection in Hispaniola. What if you need to get money to research in the Archivo de Indias in Seville and find the name of the ship that was lost in Playa Preciosa.
Alejandro Selmi
Archeologist Director
AI
