we haven t seen anything that would suggest an earlier date for more recent date. it is consist with the bolts or iron spikes or wooden pegs that are holding the timbers together. everything is consistent with what we have seen on other ship wrecks that date to the 1800s. wow. do you have any suspicion or are you familiar with any ships, names of ships or the use of the ships from the 1800s that this could be part of? i remember diving with a dive group that were looking for slave trade ships along the florida coast. it s most likely that this is a merchant vessel. these big wooden sailing sh ships you know, america was a maritime nation.