Further expeditions in 1997, 1998, and 2000 yielded more archaeological treasures. Pivotal mounts and sights for measuring instruments. A medical syringe. Four tobacco pipes. Approximately two grams of gold flakes. Two dark-green glass bottles that probably held wine or other spirits. Pewter plates, two of which were still attached to one of the cannons. A collection of animal bones, most likely from pigs and cattle that were kept by the pirates for food.

And then there were the weapons. Divers uncovered a variety of small-caliber lead round shot, which could be used in muskets, pistols, or blunderbusses, or bagged and fired from cannons. Two cast-iron spheres packed with gunpowder were determined to be standard military-issue grenades. And cannons six and eight feet long, capable of firing a shot several thousand yards, were also found. Most vessels of the era carried eight to 10 cannons: At least 23 have been discovered on the QAR thus far, including one barrel filled with nasty iron spikes. Nobody said pirates were nice people.

In all the excitement, a number of questions emerged. Although several historical accounts place up to 20 pounds of West African gold dust onboard the ship, there was no pirate booty. No chests filled with jewels. No evidence of a battle, and no human remains. So why did it sink?

"It's an interesting wreck," says Queen Anne's Revenge Shipwreck Project director Mark Wilde-Ramsing. "The vessel should have had a lot of stuff on it. If it was a raging storm [that sunk the ship], you'd have shoe buckles and personal items. At the same time, if you had an abandoned ship, in a common enough area, it'd be stripped clean. So there's something going on there in between that's part of the mystery."