Mystery Ships? Follow the Blue-and-White Trail

Summary

Identifying Manila galleon shipwrecks on the West Coast has been made possible by creating a tightly dated Chinese blue-on-white porcelain chronology.  

First, the porcelains left behind at Drakes Bay, California, by Francis Drake in 1579 were separated from those of the San Agustin shipwreck of 1595 in the same location.  From the study of three additional shipwreck porcelain groups, a chronology of a key porcelain type called Kraak ware was created covering the period 1578 through 1643.  

The Kraak chronology led to the dating of a 1999 galleon wreck find in Baja California to the period 1574 through 1577.  Subsequent numismatic work narrowed the dates to 1575 through 1577.  Documents identified a missing-without-trace eastbound Manila galleon of 1576.  

Adding the new cargo and another recent find to the chronology extended it to include the entire Kraak ware sequence from 1576 through 1644, plus a few years on the front end.    

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Shipwreck Archaeology Without a Ship: Archaeological and Historical Investigations of Shipwreck Materials from Terrestrial Sites and the Historic Record   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2015

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Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 490