Treasure trove found in 500-year-old shipwreck off Africa
May 1, 2008 By DONNA BRYSON, Associated Press Writer
In this undated photo released on Thursday May 1, 2008 and supplied by Namdeb Diamond Corporation, Dr Dieter Noli, the chief archaeologist of the Southern Africa Institute of Maritime Archaeological Research poses as he sits counting the day's "take" of gold coins from a bucket into his hat, that were found off Namibia's southwest coast. Namdeb Diamond Corp. says geologists have stumbled on a shipwreck that could date back to Africa's earliest explorers. It's loaded with cannons, gold coins, navigational instruments and other treasures. The company says the ship could date back to the late 1400s and be the contemporary of vessels used by Vasco de Gama and Columbus. (AP Photo/Namdeb Diamond Corporation)
(AP) -- The ship was laden with tons of copper ingots, elephant tusks, gold coins - and cannons to fend off pirates. But it had nothing to protect it from the fierce weather off a particularly bleak stretch of inhospitable African coast, and it sank 500 years ago.
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