Feuer Frei!
09-02-11, 08:34 AM
They smoked like the devil, drank straight from the bottle, annoyed the Spanish and had a fascination with fine pottery.
Oh, and they didn't use plates ... at least not ceramic ones.
Based in 18th-century Belize, they were real "Pirates of the Caribbean (http://www.livescience.com/2529-man-amazing-movie-simulations.html)" and now new research by 21st-century archaeologists is telling us what their lives were like.
Their findings, detailed in a chapter in a recently published book, suggest that while these pipe-smoking men acted as stereotypical pirates would — drinking, smoking and stealing — they also kept fancy, impractical porcelain in their camps. The fine dinnerware may have been a way to imbue the appearance of upper-class society. [See photos of the pirate loot discovered (http://www.livescience.com/15865-photos-pirates-caribbean.html)]
From historical records scientists had known that by 1720 these Caribbean pirates (http://www.livescience.com/3488-today-pirates-hearken-golden-age.html) occupied a settlement called the "Barcadares," a name derived from the Spanish word for "landing place." Located 15 miles (24 kilometers) up the Belize River, in territory controlled by the Spanish, the site was used as an illegal logwood-cutting operation. The records indicate that a good portion of its occupants were pirates taking a pause from life at sea.
SOURCE (http://www.livescience.com/15866-caribbean-pirates-archaeology.html)
Oh, and they didn't use plates ... at least not ceramic ones.
Based in 18th-century Belize, they were real "Pirates of the Caribbean (http://www.livescience.com/2529-man-amazing-movie-simulations.html)" and now new research by 21st-century archaeologists is telling us what their lives were like.
Their findings, detailed in a chapter in a recently published book, suggest that while these pipe-smoking men acted as stereotypical pirates would — drinking, smoking and stealing — they also kept fancy, impractical porcelain in their camps. The fine dinnerware may have been a way to imbue the appearance of upper-class society. [See photos of the pirate loot discovered (http://www.livescience.com/15865-photos-pirates-caribbean.html)]
From historical records scientists had known that by 1720 these Caribbean pirates (http://www.livescience.com/3488-today-pirates-hearken-golden-age.html) occupied a settlement called the "Barcadares," a name derived from the Spanish word for "landing place." Located 15 miles (24 kilometers) up the Belize River, in territory controlled by the Spanish, the site was used as an illegal logwood-cutting operation. The records indicate that a good portion of its occupants were pirates taking a pause from life at sea.
SOURCE (http://www.livescience.com/15866-caribbean-pirates-archaeology.html)