Yaarrgh! Get yer hands off me ... stemware??

Ah, Blackbeard. Now who wouldn't love a guy with fuses in his beard? Sure, it might seem a little heavy-handed since the perfection of bullying, intimidation and dishonesty by Lee Atwater and Karl Rove, but let's not forget that in the 1700s, "sign aboard or walk the plank" was one hell of an effective push poll. But I digress. Thanks to the delightful daily headlines from Archaeology Magazine, I found this interesting (to me) story in which archaeologists have linked stemware found with the wreck that some presume is the Queen Anne's Revenge to the early 18th century. Based on the craftsmanship, a specialist dated the glass to 1710-1720. The wine glass is missing part of the bowl and its base, but the remaining four-sided stem has diamonds and crowns embossed on it in honor of the coronation of England's George I. According to the article, this type of glass was never popular with the English. Further, the leaded glass helps in dating the glass, because finer crystal glasses were not developed until later. Blackbeard's ship ran aground in Beaufort Inlet, North Carolina in 1718.

Other sites of interest:
North Carolina Maritime Museum page on Blackbeard and Queen Anne's Revenge
The Queen Anne's Revenge Shipwreck Project site