Some artifacts from the legendary Spanish ship "San Jose," known to have sunk in the 18th century, have been unveiled.
The Office of the President of Colombia said in a news release on the 20th, local time, that President Gustavo Petro received a briefing on the progress of a research project titled "Toward the heart of the San Jose galleon" and on the analysis results of artifacts recovered from the wreck.
Artifacts set to undergo conservation include one cannon, one ceramic cup, three hammered coins (macuquina), and two ceramic fragments.
The artifacts came ashore 10 years after Colombian authorities released that they had identified the remains of the San Jose near the seabed about 600 meters off Cartagena in 2015. According to the Associated Press, the exact current location of the wreck is a state secret.
Researchers said they confirmed that there were no artificial alterations to the archaeological environment around the hull after mapping the distribution of artifacts, establishing site boundaries, and verifying potential damage processes to the items.
The San Jose, owned by the Spanish crown, sank in 1708. By the standards of the time, it was a large vessel, and only a small number of the roughly 600 crew members survived.
The prevailing view has been that the main cause of the sinking was either "an attack by the British fleet" (Spain's claim) or "an internal explosion" (Britain's claim). However, the Colombian government is putting forward a hypothesis that other causes, such as hull damage, may have played a role.
It is estimated that the ship carried 11 million gold and silver coins and gemstones such as emeralds. Because of this, it was the target of numerous adventurers' expeditions until Colombian authorities announced the discovery of the wreck in 2015.