The discovery of a centuries-old anchor may help a UM researcher and fellow underwater archeologists find the fleet the Spanish conquistador scuttled before conquering Mexico.

In July of 1519, in a brazen act that would upend history, Spanish conquistador HernánCortés ordered his men to sink all but one of the 11 ships they sailed from Cuba to Mexico on a supposed exploratory mission.

Nearly 500 years later, the fleet’s final resting place remains unknown. But members of an international team of underwater archaeologists who are conducting the first modern-day search for the scuttled vessels, as well as 16 others that Cortés sank a year later, have found an anchor that provides the first compelling clue to the location of the lost ships. They made their discovery by combining archival and historical data about Spanish conquistadors and the Aztec empire with the best available science, technology, and local community knowledge to survey the seafloor for remains of his fleet.

In July of 1519, in a brazen act that would upend history, Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés ordered his men to sink all but one of the 11 ships they sailed from Cuba to Mexico on a supposed exploratory mission.

Nearly five hundred years later, the fleet’s final resting place remains undiscovered. But an international collaboration of underwater archaeologists is conducting the first modern-day search for the scuttled vessels, as well as 16 others that Cortés sank a year later. Their method: combining modern science and technology with local community knowledge to survey the seafloor for the remains of Cortés’ fleet.