CAMBRIDGE, Md. (AP) - Archaeologists say an 18th century shipwreck was found in the Nanticoke River by a State Highway Administration crew repairing the U.S. 50 bridge.
The SHA said in a news release Monday that the crew was removing debris from under the bridge when workers found some wood that could be ship timbers.
SHA archaeologists found that an intact keel, frames and other ship timbers. The wreck was taken to the Maryland Archaeology Conservation Laboratory in Calvert County.
Archaeologists say the ship was constructed mostly of oak cut from trees along the coastline of the central Chesapeake Bay, between the Potomac River and Annapolis.
It has been determined the ship was a merchant vessel about 45 feet long. The 18th century construction date would make it among the oldest Maryland-built shipwrecks discovered.
