Posted on 08/30/2007 5:13:53 AM PDT by SkyPilot
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Hurricane Dean's rampage over Mexico's Caribbean coast last week unearthed three rusted 18th century cannons that had lain buried under a sandy beach for decades.
Hurricane Dean is pictured over Mexico in this satellite image taken on August 22, 2007. Hurricane Dean's rampage over Mexico's Caribbean coast last week unearthed three rusted 18th century cannons that had lain buried under a sandy beach for decades. (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/Handout/Reuters)
The cannons, around 1.80 meter (5.9 feet) long, were spotted poking through the sand on a beach near the arty resort of Tulum after Dean hit on August 21, Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) said on Wednesday.
Believed to be from a shipwrecked European galleon, the badly corroded cannons will be put back in to the sea to protect them from faster corrosion onshore and for scuba divers to enjoy, it said.
"People started working to clear up the beach and they found three artifacts that were uncovered when sand was torn away by the strong winds that hit the region," INAH's director in the region, Adriana Velazquez, said in a statement.
She could not be reached directly because of damage to telephone lines from Hurricane Dean.
The cannons appeared just south of the clifftop Mayan ruins at Tulum, which INAH said were left intact by the Category 5 storm's 160 mph (256 kph) winds and lashing rains.
Lying on what is now a bar-lined tourist haven, the cannons were a flashback to the centuries following Spain's 1521 conquest of Mexico, when fleets of Spanish galleons loaded with gold, silver and other New World plunder crossed the Caribbean, often with English, French or Dutch pirates in pursuit.
The cannons are similar to others discovered in past years along Mexico's Caribbean coast and they appear to be more than 200 years old, Velazquez said.
Their bad state of corrosion suggests they were taken out of the sea many years ago and left out in the salty air, she said.
Ping.
Cool! I want one!
That’s cool although I’m surprised some senior citizen with a metal detector didn’t find them years ago.
Reminds me of the fires in Arizona and New Mexico a few years ago. After the fire, they found entire Indian cave villages that were lost to the undergrowth.
Reminds me of the old shipwreck timbers that occasionally get uncovered in storms on the Outer Banks.
Yep. The best time for a stroll on the beach is right after a big storm. Never know what you'll find......
But, but, but the "reconquista" movement in the Southwest claims the USA stole territory from Mexicans.......
What?
no pictures?
.& in the future a storm will unearth oil derricks in the middle east to remind people of that plunder carried across the Atlantic.
That’s cool although I’m surprised some senior citizen with a metal detector didn’t find them years ago.
Same thought here.
These cannons are from the 1700’s. Age of pirates, not Cortez.
I know, but I am easily reminded of Cortez.
Naturally!
(Cannon cockers use arty as an abbreviation for artillery.)
Thanks for posting this. I’m glad to know that the Mayan ruins at Tulum weren’t destroyed or damaged. I visited Tulum in 2005 and greatly enjoyed it.
Buried for decades?... 18th century cannons that were buried less then a hundred years ago?
From Veracruz (”True Cross”) to Tenochtitlan. Couldn’t have done it, however, without the support of the tribes that had been subjugated by the Mexica (mistakenly named “Aztecas” by a priest).
Note: this topic is from 8/30/2007. Thanks ConservativeMind, I finally got around to it. [blush]
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