Work on a new 400,000-square-foot office building in Boston's Seaport District screeched to a halt this week when crews found something astounding as they dug. The workers unearthed the remains of a 50-foot wooden ship from the mid- to late 1800s. "This is the first shipwreck that I know of in Boston discovered in filled land," city archaeologist Joe Bagley told CNN affiliate WBZ. "This is the largest and most significant by far." It's unclear how the ship got on land, CNN said. It was found in an area that was previously mudflats at low tide. It's possible it ran aground or crashed during a storm, according to CNN. The mudflats were later filled in, according to Boston.com.
The ship is too large and fragile to preserve and remove so archaeologists are working to document the find as quickly as possible, the site said. So far, researchers have determined there was a fire aboard the ship. It's uncertain whether the fire was set to make the wreckage smaller or if it was burning when it went down. Archaeologists have also found dozens of barrels containing lime inside the vessel. They may have been brought down from Maine for use in mixing concrete or paper making, according to Boston.com,
Bagley praised Skanska, the construction company on the project, for delaying work to allow research at the site. Construction will resume Friday, Boston.com said. The remains of the ship will either be removed or sealed into the building with concrete. The hope is to preserve some portions of the ship and incorporate them into the building, along with a 3-D image of the vessel. Bagley told Boston.com that it's rare to find a shipwreck in an area that has been filled in. Crews discovered a partial wreck during Boston's Big Dig and there are some known wrecks underwater in Boston Harbor. "It's not terribly old, but it's part of the maritime history of Boston either way," Bagley said, according to Boston.com.
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