Latest news with #LucasAtchison
NDTV
16-05-2025
- Science
- NDTV
8-Year-Old's Metal Detector Unearths 200-Year-Old Shipwreck In Ontario
An eight-year-old child in Canada's Ontario has managed to discover a nearly 200-year-old shipwreck by using nothing but a metal detector. Lucas Atchison made the discovery two years ago when he was on a family trip to the Point Farms Provincial Park near Goderich, according to a report in CBC. Using his metal detector, gifted by the family on his birthday, Atchison found a small steel spike that was attached to a piece of wood, having additional spikes on it. After alerting his dad, the duo started digging deeper and found that the spikes and the wood were part of an entire wrecked ship. "We were on the beach, we got our metal detector out, and as soon as we set it up, ding! It was a spike from the shipwreck," said little Atchison. "Then Dad told me, 'Lucas this is a shipwreck'. When I woke up that morning, I did not expect to find a shipwreck!" he added. Having made the discovery, the family reported the wreckage to provincial parks staff and subsequently reached out to the Ontario Marine Heritage Committee (OMHC) -- a non-profit dedicated to recording and preserving marine history. Excavation starts After acquiring the necessary approvals, excavation began at the site earlier this month, with OMHC finding more remnants of the ship, offering insight into the kind of vessel that lay beneath the ground all these years. "We had double frames, which seems to suggest that it was stronger-built ship and we believe that it was a schooner," said marine archaeologist Scarlett Janusas. "A schooner is usually a two-masted sailing vessel, usually wooden." Not enough wreckage has been recovered so far to surely ascertain the identity of the ship but as per the scientists, it could be the schooner St. Anthony, which sank in October 1856. "It was described as having gone ashore four miles north of Goderich, which fits about where this wreckage is, and this would only represent a very small piece," said marine historian Patrick Folkes. As the excavation continues, volunteers will complete scale drawings of the wreck, including a plan view (from the top) and profile (side view) of the wreck.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
8-year-old kid with a metal detector stumbles upon a 19th century shipwreck
A Canadian kid is proof that major scientific discoveries don't always have to come from grizzled researchers with fancy equipment. Two years ago, then-8-year-old Lucas Atchison went on a family trip to Point Farms Provincial Park in Ontario. Armed with a metal detector he had just received as a birthday present, Atchison dutifully scanned the area, hoping to hear that coveted 'beep.' Eventually, he did. Eagerly digging into the site, Lucas uncovered a metal spike, which his father initially dismissed as something used to tie up boats. But the budding archaeologist insisted they dig further. Soon, they uncovered another spike attached to a piece of wood. The father-son pair had likely stumbled on a two-century-old shipwreck. 'We were on the beach, we got our metal detector out, and as soon as we set it up, ding! It was a spike from the shipwreck,' Lucas recently told the CBC. Once the duo realized what they had found, they alerted the provincial parks staff, who then contacted the nonprofit Ontario Marine Heritage Committee (OMHC). The OMHC met with Lucas in 2023, but it took several years to obtain the necessary regulatory permits to excavate the area further. Finally, earlier this month, they began digging. Though still in the early stages, marine archaeologist Scarlett Janusas told the CBC that the shipwreck's 'double frames' suggest it is of the schooner variety. Work still needs to be done to definitively confirm the ship's identity, but archaeologists working on the project believe they may have a likely contender in the St. Anthony. That vessel wrecked near Lake Huron in 1856 during a trip transporting wheat between Chicago and Buffalo. Researchers at the site are currently creating sketches of the wreck from above and from the side to analyze it in more detail. They are also reportedly reviewing 19th-century insurance requirements for ships, which could provide clues about the vessel's identity and when it sank. Those documents outline specifications for ships at the time, such as the number of fasteners required in the frames. By cross-referencing those details against records of missing ships, they hope to definitively identify the wreck. Related: [Amateur metal detector uncovers massive Iron Age treasure hoard] Lucas' discovery is a nice reminder that, even today, in our seemingly mapped-out, modernized world, you never know what you might find with a trusty metal detector. His case is far from unique. In just the past few months, a Romanian man used a metal detector to uncover an ancient hoard of Roman coins. Even more recently, a Scottish man discovered a 4,000-year-old axe buried on his family farm. Sometimes, people may not even realize the significance of their finds until much later. Case in point: an Australian prospector named David Hole found a large rock with a metal detector in 2016, believing it to be a gold nugget. Only recently did he learn that it was actually a far rarer 4.6 billion-year-old meteorite. As for the Ontario shipwreck, researchers say they eventually plan to re-bury the find in an anaerobic, oxygen-free environment. That setting could help preserve it by protecting it from natural degradation caused by parasites and other organisms. Lucas, meanwhile, may be just beginning a long journey with his trusted metal detector.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Child with metal detector finds nearly 200-year-old shipwreck
An eight-year-old wielding a metal detector has discovered a nearly two-century-old shipwreck in Ontario, Canada. During a family trip to the Point Farms Provincial Park near Goderich in 2023, Lucas Atchison, now 10, found a small steel spike with his metal detector, a birthday gift, and decided to dig further. The spike was found attached to a piece of wood, which in turn had several more spikes on it. Further inspection revealed that the spikes and the wood were part of an entire wrecked ship. The boy and his family reported the discovery to park staff and the volunteer group called Ontario Marine Heritage Committee, CBC News reported. Archaeologists found the ship was likely an old schooner, a type of two-masted, wooden sailing vessel. It had double frames, hinting it was a stronger-built ship to transport goods. The exact identity of the ship remains unclear, however. Researchers are now making drawings of the shipwreck from different angles to identify the vessel. They are also assessing 19th century catalogues detailing insurance requirements for ships. Since such requirements included the number of fasteners, or spikes, that the frames of each type of ship must have, checking the catalogues could help identify the type of ship it was. As of now, they suspect the schooner to be St Anthony. St Anthony, built in 1856, was transporting wheat from Chicago to Buffalo when it got wrecked in Lake Huron in Ontario. A Buffalo Daily Republic news clip from 1856 points to 'schooner St Anthony of Erie' transporting a cargo of wheat near Goderich, Ontario. Another clip from November that year suggests the schooner with a 325-tonne hull ran aground near Goderich. 'Her cargo of wheat has all run through her bottom. It is thought she can be got off,' the news clip reads. At least a portion of the ship seems to have sunk and stayed buried until 2023. "It was described as having gone ashore four miles north of Goderich, which fits about where this wreckage is, and this would only represent a very small piece,' marine historian Patrick Folkes told CBS News.
The Independent
15-05-2025
- General
- The Independent
Child with metal detector finds nearly 200-year-old shipwreck
An eight-year-old wielding a metal detector has discovered a nearly two-century-old shipwreck in Ontario, Canada. During a family trip to the Point Farms Provincial Park near Goderich in 2023, Lucas Atchison, now 10, found a small steel spike with his metal detector, a birthday gift, and decided to dig further. The spike was found attached to a piece of wood, which in turn had several more spikes on it. Further inspection revealed that the spikes and the wood were part of an entire wrecked ship. The boy and his family reported the discovery to park staff and the volunteer group called Ontario Marine Heritage Committee, CBC News reported. Archaeologists found the ship was likely an old schooner, a type of two-masted, wooden sailing vessel. It had double frames, hinting it was a stronger-built ship to transport goods. The exact identity of the ship remains unclear, however. Researchers are now making drawings of the shipwreck from different angles to identify the vessel. They are also assessing 19th century catalogues detailing insurance requirements for ships. Since such requirements included the number of fasteners, or spikes, that the frames of each type of ship must have, checking the catalogues could help identify the type of ship it was. As of now, they suspect the schooner to be St Anthony. St Anthony, built in 1856, was transporting wheat from Chicago to Buffalo when it got wrecked in Lake Huron in Ontario. A Buffalo Daily Republic news clip from 1856 points to 'schooner St Anthony of Erie' transporting a cargo of wheat near Goderich, Ontario. Another clip from November that year suggests the schooner with a 325-tonne hull ran aground near Goderich. 'Her cargo of wheat has all run through her bottom. It is thought she can be got off,' the news clip reads. At least a portion of the ship seems to have sunk and stayed buried until 2023. "It was described as having gone ashore four miles north of Goderich, which fits about where this wreckage is, and this would only represent a very small piece,' marine historian Patrick Folkes told CBS News.
CBC
14-05-2025
- General
- CBC
#TheMoment an Ontario boy discovered a shipwreck on Lake Huron
Lucas Atchison, 10, recounts the moment he discovered a 19th-century shipwreck with his metal detector on a Lake Huron beach, which triggered an archaeological dig.
