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A hoarded wealth trove of gold coin , gemstones and jewel was recently uncovered at a 366 - year - old Spanish shipwreck .
In an effort to preserve what ’s left of the ship and its prized cargo , an external squad of preservationist and underwaterarchaeologistshas been work to recuperate object from the shipwreck , which seat in the Atlantic Ocean about 43 miles ( 70 kilometer ) off the coast of the Bahamas .
Gold coins, gemstones and jewels are just a few of the priceless treasures found at a shipwreck site in the Bahamas.
Known as the Nuestra Señora de las Maravillas ( " Our Lady of Wonders " in Spanish ) , the 891 - ton ( 808 metric lashings ) galleon was traveling between Spain and Colombia in 1656 to pick up a cargo of silver medal when a navigational error caused it to collide with another vessel in the Spanish fleet . The stroke force the ship to run aground on acoralreef ; an judge 600 of the 650 people onboard died in the crash , the organization allege in a statement . More than three 100 later , the wreckage is spread across 8 knot ( 13 km ) of the ocean floor .
Because historian often consider the Maravillas " one of the great hoarded wealth - laden Spanish galleons , " the shipwreck has become a target for spoiler . The vast majority of the treasure ( approximately 3.5 million item ) was strip between 1656 and the early nineties , according to theBahamas Maritime Museum .
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A glass wine bottle was one of the many day-to-day objects used by the ship’s crew.
To aid protect the remain artifact , Allen Exploration ( AllenX ) , an system that specialise in finding historical shipwreck , has partnered with the Bahamian government to retrieve what ’s leave of the ship and its cargo .
" The Maravillas is an iconic part of the Bahamas ' maritime account , " Carl Allen , founder of Allen Exploration , tell in the instruction . " The shipwreck of the galleon had a toughened account : heavily salvaged by Spanish , English , French , Dutch , Bahamian and American expeditions in the 17th and 18th centuries and blitz by salvors from the 1970s to [ the ] early 1990s . So much data has been sadly lost from this ravaged wreck . "
Over the past two year , Allen and his squad were able-bodied to recover a routine of items from the wreckage , admit the last end of the ship itself : a stone ballast , iron fastening that at one time hold the hull together and a fender nut from a bronze navigational official document call an astrolabe . Other witness include detail that were used by the work party , such as jar from Spain ; plates fromChinaand Mexico ; and personal belongings , like a silver blade hilt , a off-white pack , vino bottles , and four pendant don by knights of the Order of Santiago , a 12th - 100 Spanish and Lusitanian spiritual and military order .
An artist’s illustration of what the Nuestra Señora de las Maravillas, a Spanish galleon, might have looked like when it sailed 350 years ago.
One of thegoldpendants feature a large , oval Colombian emerald and a dozen smaller emerald , which may represent the Twelve Apostles , alongside a heraldic motif know as the Cross of St. James , CNNreported .
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" How these flyspeck pendants survived in these harsh waters , and how we managed to find them , is the miracle of the Maravillas , " Allen said in the instruction .
But perhaps the most captivating of all the finds is the precious cargo that the Maravillas was cart : a stockpile of silver and gold coins , emeralds , amethysts and a 75 - hammer silver gray stripe .
" The AllenX team is currently examine everything from ceramic to amethysts to maximise what knowledge this crash can partake in with the world , " the organization said in the statement .
Many of the items recover from the shipwreck will become a permanent collection at the Bahamas Maritime Museum , which opens in Freeport Aug. 8 .
Originally published on Live Science .
