Four years ago archaeologists discovered the bones of an ancient sailing ship below where the World Trade Center once stood.
Tree ring scientists from Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory analyzed the samples, and determined the wood was most likely cut around 1773 from an old growth forest near Philadelphia. This would have been only a few years before the bloody American revolution. The findings were published in a recent edition of the journal Tree Ring Research.
Wood sampled from Philadelphia's Independence Hall helped the researchers make their findings. The team determined samples from both the Hall and wooden ship were from the same region. As trees grow they record information from their climate, showing tighter rings in dryer years and wider ones during wetter ones. These climate indicators serve as a sort of "birth certificate" for the trees.
"We could see that at that time in Philadelphia, there were still a lot of old-growth forests, and [they were] being logged for shipbuilding and building Independence Hall," study leader Dario Martin-Benito, told Live Science. "Philadelphia was one of the most -- if not the most -- important shipbuilding cities in the U.S. at the time. And they had plenty of wood so it made lots of sense that the wood could come from there,"
The researchers believe the ship is the Hudson River Sloop, which was designed by the Dutch to carry both passengers and cargo through shallow or rocky water. After about 20 or 30 years of service it is believed to have sailed to Manhattan, making its final resting place a block west of Greenwich Street.
As trade in New York grew over the island's shoreline inched westward. The ship is believed to have been buried in trash and landfill as the landscape changed. The team estimated by 1818 the ship was completely obscured from view. After the Sept. 11 2001 terrorist attacks destroyed the World Trade Center, the site was opened up for excavation.
