Treasure Hunting

If you live in New York City then you probably don’t get to go out metal detecting too often.

But you do get to go to some great exhibits at the various museums around The City and yes, we are jealous here in St. Cloud, Florida.

DiveMaster.com reports that artifacts from the oldest known shipwreck, the Uluburn, will be on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art from the Bodrum Underwater Archaeological Museum in Turkey starting November 18, 2008.

All of the 140 unique pieces that were removed from the 3,300 year old ship will be on public display at the Met., including the “golden seal of Egyptian Queen Nefertiti, glass beads, golden necklaces, precious jewels, a stone hoe, and containers for food and hunting items used in ancient times.”

Museum Director Yasar Yildiz said “In addition to being the oldest shipwreck discovered so far, Uluburun provides significant insight into the ancient commercial life of the Anatolia and Mediterranean basins. Furthermore, the artifacts from Uluburun are extremely well preserved. Egyptian Queen Nefertiti’s first and only golden seal in the world will be on display at the symposium. We are proud of exhibiting and promoting the artifacts from Bodrum Museum, which is acknowledged as one of the most outstanding museums in the world. We will introduce our treasures to the public in the U.S.A.”

The Uluburun was discovered in 1982 by a Turkish sponge diver and was recovered using techniques of underwater excavation in 11 consecutive campaigns of 3-4 months duration each from 1984 to 1994.

For a complete list of the items found on the ship (and consequently, the items that will be on display at the Met in November) view the Uluburun’s Wikipedia Page.

Anybody planning on going to this? Feel free to send us pictures!

- Shaun

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The Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center in Townsend will be getting one awesome donation this week. Coming from Mike Williams, a resident of Venice, Florida, is his father Charlie William’s Whiskey Still. A special building has been built by the Heritage Center to house the Still and the information about its origin and operation. It has been reassembled as closely as possible to its original form for the exhibit, which opened this week.

Charlie Williams lived just outside of Townsend, rumor has it “it was just far enough off all beaten paths that they wouldn’t just stumble onto it by accident.” But there was a good reason to try - Charlie was known for making “some of the best hooch in the hills.”

Charlie learned the skill of making Whiskey when he was just a young boy but three things made his Whiskey stand out from all the others:

The Still was operated by Charlie for 20 years, and he closed it down as recently as the late 1980’s. The Still was capable of handling as much as 450 gallons of mash and could produce 88 to 95 gallons of whiskey per run, which was about every six days.

Mike Williams, 60, said he got his first taste of moonshine at age 4 and missed his senior class photo at Townsend High School in 1965 because he was helping his father pour concrete for the ceiling of the bunker-style structure that housed the still.

If you’re in the area of The Great Smoky Mountain Heritage Center, make sure to stop by and see this exhibit. It’s certainly treasure in its own right, and is a wonderful tribute to a generation we may never really know.

Read the rest of this lengthy and engaging article at KnoxNews.com’s website, and see more pictures of Charlie and his son Mike.

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The National Geographic Society and the National Museum of Afghanistan in Kabul have come together for a joint exhibition of ancient Afghanistan treasures to be put on display at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.

The exhibition includes ancient coins found in the region, many of which were rediscovered buried in the Central Bank located in the Presidential Palace. They hadn’t been seen since 1979 when the Soviet invasion occurred. These treasures later escaped danger from the Taliban, who destroyed many works of art that portrayed deities.

The turbulent early history of Afghanistan is covered well in this article at Numismaster.com. Two significantly impressive coins that can be seen on display in Washington D.C. include the “Silver Drachm of Mithradates II of Parthia” issued from 123 - 88 B.C. Numismaster.com reports “It is an important although common Ancient numismatic specimen with its typical realistic portrait.”

Nearby and above the Mithradates II coin is a lovely gold aureus of Tiberius, Emperor of Roma, issued from 14 - 37 A.D. The reverse portrays Livia as Pax. Numismaster.com reports “It is the oldest Roman coin to be found in Afghanistan to date,. . . it is believed to have reached Afghanistan by sea and then through India, apparently a Roman trade route.”

Washington D.C. is fortunate to solicit such unique exhibitions. Afghanistan is on the forefront of many American minds and I think there is much to learn from the countries turbulent history. The ancient coins, of course, are fascinating.

~ Liz ~

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Fifty remarkable, vintage images from the Civil War era are on display at the South Caroline Confederate Relic Room & Military Museum.

On loan from the David L. Hack Collection of the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Va., “these are some of the most powerful and well-known photographs in our nationa’s history.” Relic Room director Allen Roberson says “The images are stark, human and unforgettable.”

So exactly what are these vintage photographs of?

One of the most piercing photographs is of President Abraham Lincoln, taken only 11 days before he delivered the Gettysburg Address.

There’s also a series of eight vintage Gardner prints of the hanging of the conspirators in the Lincoln assassination - the only photographs taken of the event. They even include a 3-D stereoscopic image of the hangings, which came just three months after Lincoln was killed.

Other photographs include one of General Robert E. Lee in the uniform he wore at the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Courthouse. Wearing the uniform was a violation of the terms of his surrender, but he wore it anyway.

Check out the events and exhibits at the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room & Military Museum website. You can also take a virtual tour online. The exhibit closes June 28, 2008, so if you’re in the area this summer please be sure to stop by!

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Any treasure hunter worth their salt should consider themselves a pirate!

The folks in Newport, Rhode Island are no exception, and this year’s Pirate Fest promises to be a swashbuckling good time!

If you’re in Rhode Island and have a good plastic sword on hand, make your way over to Cap’n Nick’s Newport Pirate Walk. Events start at 10:00am with scurvy vendors selling authentic period clothing, books, jewelry, toys, and other miscellaneous pirate paraphernalia.

There will also be a Pirate Treasure Hunt in downtown Newport. Maps are only $1.00 and you get two hours to find the loot. But if you’re not up to the task, the Rum Tasting and Grog will go down at the Tropical Pirate Bar from 11:00am to 1:00am - so be prepared to pace yourself!

Since this is a family friendly event, there will be a Family Pirate School where kids and adults can learn how to give the most intimidated “aaarrrrr!” possible.

But the highlight of the event is the Buccaneers Ball at 8:00pm at the Newport Yachting Center. It’s the official, final event of Pirate Fest 2008 and is completely Pirate themed with a costume contest and entertainment.

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If you’ve been through Polk County, FL (just outside of Orlando), you know there’s not a whole lot to do there. This weekend, the Trek Ten Trails program, developed by the Friends of the Parks foundation, hopes to change that. Polk county has over 125 hiking trails, and many of those will be used this weekend to encourage residents and visitors to experience the outdoors.

The Fort Fraser Trail will be featured in the first of 10 organized treks through next September in the innovative program that features hiking, exploring, and geocaching. We’ve covered geocaching on this site before, and it seems like it’s really gaining popularity. The organizers are hope that geocaching will encourage children and those who are savvy about technology to visit Polk’s paved and unpaved walking trails.

More more details on the event, visit the Orlando Sentinel, or contact the coordinator, Amy L. Edwards, at aledwards@orlandosentinel.com or 407-931-5946.

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Live in La Crosse, WI and looking for something to do tomorrow? The La Crosse Area Sports Commission is holding a geocaching event and seminar to excite people about this new hobby. If you’re unfamiliar with geocaching, it involves GPS users exploring wilderness and urban areas in search of hidden caches, with location coordinates listed on a Web site or provided by the person who placed the cache. In other words, people place a cache, which is usually a water-safe box, in a hidden location with a logbook, a pen, and usually some item left behind. Once you find the item, you write your name and date in the logbook, take the item, and put an item of your own in the cache for the next person to find. It might seem easy, but many times, the caches are located underwater, or buried - which is where metal detectors come in.

Here’s a map showing La Crosse, WI:

View Larger Map

For more information on geocaching, visit the geocaching website.

Here are the details of this weekend’s event:

• WHAT: Get Caching With the La Crosse Area Sports Commission, a seminar on geocaching
• WHEN: 9-11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 22
• WHERE: La Crosse Area Convention and Visitors Bureau in Riverside Park
• COST: $5
• RSVP: Call Brian Meeter at 782-2250 or sports@explorelacrosse.com or register the day of the event.
• NOTE: Attendees are encouraged to bring a GPS if they have one, but a limited number of units will be available for use or for purchase.

If you make it to the event, let us know.

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