最近，一项新的研究解决了围绕黑胡子海盗船沉没残骸的一个难题。

长期以来，关于这艘船是如何装载大量煤炭的，一直是个谜，因为当时美国的煤炭开采还没有普及。然而，科学家们现在可能有了答案。

这艘船是18世纪初引进的，长31.4米，是一艘航行在大西洋上的法国奴隶贸易船。据报道，早在1717年11月28日，这艘船在圣文森特岛附近被爱德华·蒂奇(黑胡子)及其海盗团伙劫持。

经验丰富的考古学家也成功地找到了“黑胡子”的宝藏，包括纸质文件、黄金、汞、玻璃珠、黄铜制品，还有令人意外的数百块煤。

这是在煤炭开采在北美普及之前的几十年，直到19世纪70年代，蒸汽动力船只才通过燃烧燃料来推动，所以它在沉船中可能是做什么的呢?

如果我们以19世纪或20世纪为背景，对这些类型煤炭的来源最简单的解释可能是阿巴拉契亚山脉，但在我们试图研究的时期，那里还不存在采矿活动。

此外，研究报告作者、肯塔基大学应用能源研究中心的杰出研究员兼研究教授詹姆斯·豪尔(James Hower)解释说，欧洲移民直到18世纪60年代后半期才发现宾夕法尼亚州的无烟煤，而合法的采矿直到19世纪才开始。

最近，科学家们对煤炭进行了分析，并对海床进行了调查，以解开这个谜团。他们的研究表明，这些煤炭的年代比黑胡子时代要晚得多。它被撒在沉船周围只是一个偶然的问题。

最近，科学家们对煤炭进行了分析，并对海底进行了调查，以解开这个谜团。他们的研究表明，这些煤的年代比黑胡子时代晚得多。它被撒在沉船周围只是一个偶然的问题。

这艘沉船位于梅肯堡海岸附近，1862年4月26日联邦军队占领后，梅肯堡是南北战争期间的主要港口和煤炭加油站之一。在接下来的两年内，大约421艘船只可能会进入该市近500次煤炭运输。似乎有些船只也将一些货物抛到了船外。

这艘沉船位于梅肯堡(Fort Macon)海岸附近，在1862年4月26日被联邦军队占领后，这里曾是南北战争期间的重要港口和煤炭补给站之一。在接下来的两年里，大约421艘船只有将近500次往返该市取煤。似乎有些船只也将一些货物抛到了船外。

煤炭可能是由于强烈的海浪、飓风和潮流而聚集在海盗沉船上的，这些海浪、飓风和潮流导致了海湾和浅滩的形成。

▲Image for representation purposes only

英文原文

A conundrum that surrounds the sunken wreck of Blackbeard’s pirate ship has been recently solved by new research.

There’s been a longstanding mystery regarding how the vessel contained heaps of coal, considering it was before coal mining was even prevalent in America. However, scientists probably have an answer now.

Introduced in the early 18th century, the 31.4-meter-long ship was a French slave-trading vessel that sailed in the Atlantic. Back in 1717, on 28 November, the vessel was reportedly captured by Edward Teach (Blackbeard) as well as his gang of pirates close to the island of Saint Vincent.

Experienced archaeologists have also successfully recovered Blackbeard’s treasures, including paper documents, gold, mercury, glass beads, brass goods, and – quite unexpectedly – hundreds of pieces of coal.

This was a few decades before coal mining found prevalence in North America, and it wasn’t until the 1870s that steam-powered vessels were propelled by burning the fuel, so what could it possibly be doing among the wreck?

If we look at a 19th- or 20th-century setting, the ***st explanation for the source of these types of coal could be lying in the Appalachians, but the mining there did not exist in the period we are trying to look at.

Besides, European settlers didn’t discover the Pennsylvania anthracite until the latter half of the 1760s, and legitimate mining did not take place until the 1800s, explained James Hower, the study author and also a distinguished fellow as well as research professor associated with the University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research.

Recently, scientists have analyzed the coal and also surveyed the seabed to resolve this mystery. Their work has revealed that the coal dates much later than that of Blackbeard’s time. That it was sprinkled around the shipwreck simply was a matter of chance.

The shipwreck is off the coast of Fort Macon, which was one of the key harbours and coal refuelling stations during the Civil War following the Union troops captured it on 26 April 1862. Within the next two years, about 421 vessels could make nearly 500 trips into the city for coal. It seems that some ships may have also chucked some cargo overboard.

The coal may have gathered on the pirate shipwreck due to strong waves, hurricanes, and tidal currents that have resulted in the inlets and sand shoal formation along the Outer Banks.

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