To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. Thanks.Myth multipliesTHE team of Mahogany Ship hunters that found 3600-year-old non-native wood last year told the weekend's symposium they were aware of the locations of a number of "Mahogany Ships".
by Matt Neal
September 26, 2005
Group spokesman Mark Rawson said that as well as the site near Levys Point where they found about 60 ancient olive samples, they had discovered a number of new sites where they believed shipwrecks were buried.
He said he believed one of the sites was related to claims made recently by Canberra mathematician Dr Frank Coningham that the British government ordered the burial of a Portuguese wreck in Kelly's Swamp near Levys Point.
"We think Coningham was right (and) we've located the position of where the boat was dumped," Mr Rawson said.
"There's at least more than one ship (but) they're not all ancient. They're from different times."
Mr Rawson and his team used divining rods on Saturday to search an area and said they believed they had found at least one buried ship that was about 20 metres long.
He said he did not know what origin the ships were but suggested Phoenician, Egyptian, Chinese and Portuguese.
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I'm not a coin collector, and the image could be better, but I'm a bit baffled. The horse suggested India, but I've found no online match (not even the style). Here's an example of an Indian coin with a horse:
http://www.med.unc.edu/~nupam/kun.GIF
I've got an image (on the drive) of a coin of Apulia (pre- Roman Empire Italy), and another of Orthosia (Caria, in Anatolia), each of which is slightly suggestive of the style. But no match.
"The complex was first discovered by Val Osborn in 1990. Almost a decade of research has indicated it to be a typical Phoenician Colony settlement of the ancient sea kings of around 1000BC. Such sites exist the World over and presently generate enormous controversy among historians and other academics."
more about Val Osborne:
Phoenicians in Australia?
http://phoenicia.org/australia.html
This Phoenician copy of a half-dollar-size coin from ancient Syracuse may provide definitive evidence supporting Professor Mark McMenamin's theory that the ancient Phoenicians were the first Old World explorers in the New World. The coin's Punic (Phoenician) horse is flanked by an uprooted palm tree representing Phoenicia. McMenamin wonders if the dangling roots may indicate the travelers' intent to "transplant" Phoenician culture to the New World.
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Oak Timber, not the Mahogany ShipIn July 1999, shipwreck enthusiast, Mr Des Williams, discovered a sample of wood buried 3.1 metres under the sand dunes between Warrnambool and Port Fairy. It was identified by the CSIRO as Quercus species - White Oak. According to the CSIRO, "This wood is from a group of oaks and could have originated from the USA or Europe. It is a common shipbuilding timber." |
