200 YEAR OLD VESSEL FOUND BURIED UNDER GROUND ZERO

THE SHIP WAS BURIED AS JUNK TWO CENTURIES AGO, LANDFILL TO EXPAND A BUSTLING LITTLE ISLAND OF COMMERCE CALLED MANHATTAN. WHEN IT RE-EMERGED THIS WEEK, SURROUNDED BY SKYSCRAPERS, IT WAS AND INSTANT TREASURE THAT POPPED UP FROM THE MUD NEAR GROUND ZERO. A 32 FOOT PIECE OF THE VESSEL WAS DISCOVERED IN SOIL 20 FEET UNDER STREET LEVEL, AMID NOISY BULLDOZERS EXCAVATING A PARKING GARAGE FOR THE FUTURE WORLD TRADE CENTER. NEAR THE SITE OF SO MANY GRIM FINDS, SEPT 11 VICTIMS' REMAINS, TWISTED STEEL AND VARIOUS OBJECTS ATTRIBUTED TO THE DAILY LIFE OF A ONCE-BUSY BUSINESS CENTER, THIS ONE WAS AS UNEXPECTED AS IT WAS THRILLING. HISTORIANS SAY THE SHIP, BELIEVED TO DATE TO THE 1700s, WAS DEFUNCT BY THE TIME IT WAS USED AROUND 1810 TO EXTEND THE SHORES OF LOWER MANHATTAN. 'A SHIP IS THE SUMMIT OF WHAT YOU MIGHT FIND UNDER THE WORLD TRADE CENTER, IT'S EXCITING!', SAID MOLLY MCDONALD, AN ARCHAEOLOGIST WHO FIRST SPOTTED TWO PIECES OF THE HEWN, CURVED TIMBER, PART OF THE FRAME OF THE SHIP, PEEKING OUT OF THE MUDDY SOIL AT DAWN TUESDAY. BY THURSDAY, SHE AND THREE COLLEAGUES HAD DUG UP THE HULL FROM THE MUDDY PIT WHERE PARTS OF THE NEW TRADE CENTER ARE BEING BUILT. A STEEP, HANGING LADDER TREMBLED WITH EACH PRECARIOUS STEP DOWN INTO THE CHAOTIC MOUNDS OF DIRT AND MUD, DWARFED ALL AROUND BY THE MANHATTAN SKYLINE. PEOPLE SANK INTO THE WATERY MUD AS THEY WALKED AROUND THE SITE, GRASPING PIECES OF THE HISTORIC WOOD FOR SUPPORT, TOUCHING THE CENTURIES OLD SHIP THAT MAY HAVE ONCE SAILED THE CARIBBEAN, ACCORDING TO MARINE HISTORIAN NORMAN BROWER, WHO EXAMINED THE VESSEL THURSDAY. MCDONALD AND ARCHAEOLOGIST A MICHAEL PAPPALARDO MADE THE DISCOVERY ON TUESDAY AT ABOUT 6.15am, JUST AS THEY STARTED THEIR SHIFT OBSERVING CONSTRUCTION IN A PIT AT THE SOUTHERN EDGE OF GROUND ZERO. THE TWO WORK FOR AKRF, A NEW YORK ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTING FIRM HIRED TO DOCUMENT ARTIFACTS DISCOVERED AT THE TRADE CENTER SITE. THE VESSEL'S AGE WILL BE ESTIMATED AFTER THE PIECES THAT FIRST APPEARED ARE TESTED IN A LABORATORY THROUGH DENDROCHRONOLOGY, THE SCIENCE OF USING TREE RINGS TO DETERMINE DATES AND CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER. ALSO UNKNOWN IS WHAT KIND OF WOOD WAS USED TO BUILD THE VESSEL. A 100 POUND IRON ANCHOR WAS FOUND A FEW YARDS FROM THE HULL, POSSILBLY FROM THE OLD VESSEL. THERE WERE ALSO TRACES OF HUMAN LIFE, 'PIECES OF SHOES ALL OVER', SAID MCDONALD, WHO HAD NO IDEA HOW THEY GOT THERE. TEH REMAINS OF THE SHIP WILL BE REMOVED IN THE COMING DAYS, BUT THE TIMBER IS SO DELICATE IT'S UNCLEAR HOW MUCH OF IT WILL REMAIN INTACT. THE SURROUNDING WATER ACTED AS A PRESERVER FOR THE WOOD FOR CENTURIES, MCDONALD SAID, BUT THE REMAINS BEGAN TO DETERIORATE IMMEDIATELY UPON CONTACT WITH OXYGEN. ANOTHER FASCINATING DETAIL MIGHT EMERGE AS WORK PROGRESSES; COINS TRADITIONALLY PLACED UNDER A VESSEL'S KEEL BLOCK AS A SYMBOL OF GOOD FORTUNE AND SAFE TRAVELS.