Iron Cauldrons of the Queen Anne’s Revenge
The North Carolina shipwreck site, 31CR314, otherwise known as the Queen Anne’s Revenge, held many artifacts that tell a story of the humans that lived in the past, including iron cauldron fragments. These artifacts can tell a story of the food-ways of the pirates and slaves that lived on the ship before it ran aground around May 1718. This article will analyze the way these iron cauldrons, (sometimes referred to as kettles,) may have been used and stored in Queen Anne’s Revenge, using data from other shipwrecks that date around the 18th century and data from the actual site itself. It will also seek to find the importance this object had in the every day lives of the crewmen and passengers and give insight into how the crewmen fed the slaves aboard the ship while they participating in the slave trade during this time. This article will also investigate the background of cauldrons around the time that the Queen Anne’s Revenge sailed the sea, ranging from the origins of iron cauldrons in Ireland to the spread and use in Africa.
Key Words
Iron Cauldrons; Queen Anne’s Revenge; Blackbeard; Food-ways; Pirates; Slave Trade; Shipwreck; Artifact