Dates: 1981-1983

In 1981, the Institute of Nautical Archaeology received an invitation from the Government of Jamaica to conduct a survey of Pedro Bank.  Located 64 km. south of Jamaica's Portland Point, the government was concerned about several requests from treasure hunters for permission to salvage  shipwrecks on the bank.  Opting to secure their heritage from the actions of salvors who believe they have the “right to plunder” historic sites (Hoyt, 111) , Jamaica contacted INA.

The primary focus of the survey was a site believed to be that of the ship known as the Genovesa (a.k.a. la Nuestra Señora del Carmen).  Included in the survey, however, was a general recording of other shipwreck sites on the bank.

Once known as one of  the “Guano Cays” for its abundance of bird-produced fertilizer, the bank is a desert shoal 160 km. long fringed by coral reefs.  The only inhabitants are boobies, terns, and the occasional seasonal fisherman.  INA mounted several expeditions to Pedro Bank, assisted by the Jamaican Defense Force Coast Guard and the Jamaican chapter of the British Sub-Aqua Club.  US ambassador and INA board member Sumner Gerard made available his vessel for two trips to the cay.

The research vessel and team.  Photo: INA.

INA located five significant sites, and several other less pertinent ones.  Four of these are summarized here.

Site PB2

A small ballast pile with hundreds of olive jar fragments marked this site.  Four cannons and an anchor were also found.  Classification based on mouth rings of the jars date this site to between 1580 and 1780.  A fresh imprint of a cannon, gave sad witness to recent looting of the site.

Olive jar fragments.  Photo: INA.

Site PB3

A 30 m. long ballast pile with 21 iron cannons and 6 anchors indicate a large vessel came to ruin here.  Test excavations revealed olive jar fragments of the same age as Site PB2.  3 lidded, closed sundials were found.  Examination after conservation revealed the gnomon was set at 42 degrees, the line of latitude for Boston and Madrid.  Two silver coins were found.  One of these was minted in Lima and was dated 1686.  The other coin was from Potosi and had no date, but stylistically belongs to the second half of the 17^th century.

A lidded sundial.  Photo: INA.

Site PB4

Unlike the other sites, PB4 lies in shallow water on a bottom free of coral.  The ballast pile lies low and flat, as opposed to the high mounds of the other sites. 16 cannons and 3 anchors were found around a ballast pile 32 meters long.  In the center, was a deposit of cannon shot.  Earthenware sherds were also observed.

Airlifting.  Photos: INA.

10 iron cannons were found on this site, but no anchors.  British testimony from the salvaging of the Genovesa in the 1730s indicates this site as the most likely candidate for the wreck as the salvors retrieved all of that ship’s anchors.  Porcelain sherds and olive jar fragments were found, again dating to the same period as PB2 and PB3.  A white type of ceramic called blanc de Chine, decorated with incised floral sprays, were represented by fragments from four teacups.  Originating at Tehua in Fukien Province, China, they were manufactured prior to 1700.  This, however, might not indicate the age of the ship as such ceramics were highly prized and were possibly part of a personal set that survived for a number of decades before the wrecking on Pedro Bank.   Two brass coin weights, indicative of a style predating the eighteenth century were also found.

Weights.  Photo: INA.

Burns R.B., 1984 , "The Pedro Bank  Sundial,"  International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, 13.4 (1984): 339-40.

L. Garigen, Description and Analysis of Seventeenth-Century Flintlock Pistols from Pedro Bank, Jamaica, Master's Thesis, Texas A&M University, 1991. Abstract.

S.D. Hoyt, "The Archaeological Survey of Pedro Bank, Jamaica 1981-1983," International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 13.2 (1984): 99-111.  Reprint Available.

Ralph K. Pedersen
2003, INA's Survey at Pedro Bank, Jamaica
URL, http://ina.tamu.edu/pedrobank.pedrobank.htm