In the marshes of Brunswick County, North Carolina, archaeologists hit the jackpot.

Over just two months, researchers from East Carolina University unearthed the remains of four long-forgotten vessels along the shoreline of the Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site, also known as BTFA, a place rich in colonial history.

The crown jewel of the find might be La Fortuna, a Spanish ship that was reportedly blown to pieces during a local uprising in 1748, back when King George’s War made peaceful coastal life a lot more dangerous.

Samples from one of the wrecks revealed Monterey or Mexican cypress, a wood native to either Southern California or Central America, hinting at Spanish colonial origins. Conveniently, La Fortuna is the only documented Spanish shipwreck in the area.

Even

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