A follow-up to our previous post – 18th Century Ship Found Buried at New York’s World Trade Center Site.  Workers are now beginning to dismantle what is left of the ship, plank by plank, for preservation.    Last week,  Atlantic Wire  posted an interesting discussion on the various theories of the ship’s origin.  See : Theories on Ancient Wooden Ship Found at Ground Zero

Workers in NYC begin to dismantle ground zero ship

Plank by plank, archeologists on Monday began the delicate process of dismantling a section of an 18th century ship that was found buried across the street from the World Trade Center site.

Each plank will be freeze-dried so that the fragmentary hull can eventually be reassembled and put on display, said Nichole Doub, head conservator for the Maryland Archeological Conservation Laboratory.

The 32-foot section of the nameless vessel was found earlier this month as workers were excavating for the rebuilt World Trade Center’s parking garage….

The section of the ship lay bathed in water and shielded from the sun by a tarp strung up on poles. Doub said the timber has to be kept wet or it will warp.

Each plank was labeled so conservators will know its precise location in the wreckage. The members of the conservation team then picked up each plank, measured it and wrapped it in layers of moisture-preserving insulation. The process of dismantling the ship was expected to take two to four days.