© 2025 Blue Ridge Public Radio

Blue Ridge Mountains banner background

Your source for information and inspiration in Western North Carolina.

Donate

Play Live Radio

Next Up:

0:00

0:00

0:00 0:00

Available On Air Stations

300 Years Later, Blackbeard’s NC Shipwreck Continues To Turn Up Archaeological Treasures

WUNC | By Anita Rao,

Laura Pellicer

Published July 6, 2018 at 12:46 PM EDT

'Capture of the Pirate, Blackbeard,' 1718 depicting the battle between Blackbeard the Pirate and Lieutenant Maynard in Ocracoke Bay.

Blackbeard’s stolen vessel, the Queen Anne’s Revenge, ran aground off the North Carolina coastline three hundred years ago this summer.

To mark the anniversary, a pair of archaeologists whoworked on the wreckage together for years have written a comprehensive look at the many artifacts they recovered from the ocean floor and the stories those artifacts reveal about the infamous pirate and life aboard the ship.

Guest host Anita Rao speaks with archaeologist and curator Linda Carnes-McNaughton and underwater archaeologist Mark Wilde-Ramsing about their work on the Queen Anne’s Revenge Shipwreck Project.

Guest host Anita Rao speaks with Linda Carnes-McNaughton, program archaeologist and curator at Fort Bragg's Cultural Resources Management Program and longtime volunteer on the excavation project. Mark Wilde-Ramsing also joins the conversation. He is a former deputy state underwater archaeologist of North Carolina and former director Queen Anne’s Revenge Shipwreck Project.

Wilde-Ramsing and Carnes-McNaughton will speak about their book "Blackbeard's Sunken Prize: The 300-Year Voyage of Queen Anne's Revenge" (UNC Press/2018) at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh on Sunday, July 8 at 2 p.m.

Copyright 2018 North Carolina Public Radio

Anita Rao

Anita Rao is the host and creator of "Embodied," a live, weekly radio show and seasonal podcast about sex, relationships & health. She's also the managing editor of WUNC's on-demand content. She has traveled the country recording interviews for the Peabody Award-winning StoryCorps production department, founded and launched a podcast about millennial feminism in the South, and served as the managing editor and regular host of "The State of Things," North Carolina Public Radio's flagship daily, live talk show. Anita was born in a small coal-mining town in Northeast England but spent most of her life growing up in Iowa and has a fond affection for the Midwest.

See stories by Anita Rao

Laura Pellicer

Laura Pellicer is a producer with The State of Things (hyperlink), a show that explores North Carolina through conversation. Laura was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, a city she considers arrestingly beautiful, if not a little dysfunctional. She worked as a researcher for CBC Montreal and also contributed to their programming as an investigative journalist, social media reporter, and special projects planner. Her work has been nominated for two Canadian RTDNA Awards. Laura loves looking into how cities work, pursuing stories about indigenous rights, and finding fresh voices to share with listeners. Laura is enamored with her new home in North Carolina—notably the lush forests, and the waves where she plans on moonlighting as a mediocre surfer.

See stories by Laura Pellicer