Welcome to our Artifact Quiz. This
quiz will test your knowledge of ship and maritime artifacts. A number of
artifact pictures are shown below. Click on the thumbnail images to see
larger views, then try to identify them. To see if you've got them right,
hover your screen pointer over the orange Answer buttons, or click on
the buttons, and answers
will appear. Good Luck and Enjoy!
Artifact 61
This
decorated post protrudes near the bow of the USS Constititution.
Posts like this were used on old sailing ships to help maneuver the anchors.
What is this post called called?
Artifact 60
This
brass wheel (about 3" in diameter) was found on a 20th Century shipwreck.
The row of beads and the numbers (0-9) on the rim are keys to its identity. What is
this wheel?
Artifact 59
This
device has been used on navy ships for centuries. It's overall length is
about 5 inches. What is it?
Artifact 58
This
precision device was commonly found on ships in the 1800s. What is it?
Artifact 57
These
pipes are used on ships to feed lines and anchor chains through the hull. The ones shown
are on the USS Constitution. What are
they called?
Artifact 56
This
patented lubricating device for early steam engines was so preferred by
engineers and engine designers that it became known by a special name. That
name is now used to describe "the best" of many product types. What is the
name?
Artifact 55
The
round object at right is found on almost all ships and boats. What is it
called?
Artifact 54
This
cooking setup is on the deck of the old whaling ship Charles W. Morgan at
Mystic Seaport. What is it called?
Artifact 53
During
World War II, several thousand freighters, like the one shown at right, were
mass produced in shipyards around the United States. What is the common name
for these ships?
Artifact 52
The
steel structure shown at right is a common component of modern ships. The
overall height of this one is about 4 feet. The rounded part on top is a
clue to its identity. What is this structure?
Artifact 51
What
is the name of the ship fitting shown at right?
Artifact 50
What
is the black metal object shown at right?
Artifact 49
The
metal ring device shown at right used to be a common fixture on ships. What
is it?
Artifact 48
Prismatic
lighthouse lenses, like the one at right, have a special name. What
are they called?
Artifact 47
A
symbol like this is commonly found on the hulls of large ships
worldwide. What
is it called?
Artifact 46
The
sonar image at right shows the sidewheel steamer Portland wreck in
Massachusetts Bay. In that image, a large angular object rises above the rest of the wreck.
Note its shadow in the foreground. What is that angular object?
Artifact 45
What is the tall
open-topped object in the middle of the picture?
Artifact 44
Duplicates of the two objects at right are mounted beside each cannon on the
warship USS Constitution in Boston Harbor. What are these objects?
Artifact 43
This
concrete tower south of Boston was one of many built on the New England
coast some years back. What was the purpose of these towers?
Artifact 42
This
large gold coin was minted in a Spanish-American colony in the 1600s. What is the
common name for this type of coin?
Artifact 41
The
steel pins shown at right were commonly used in ship construction in the
1800s and early 1900s. Their size ranged up to 6 inches in length. What are
these pins called? Hint - Rosie used lots of them.
Artifact 40
Steam-powered
workboats like the one shown at right were common in American harbors in the
early 1900s. They were used primarily to load and unload cargo. What is the
common name for this type of workboat? Hint - it's not a tugboat.
Artifact 39
Crude
Spanish-American silver coins like the one shown at right were used in
worldwide trade in the 1600s and 1700s. These coins were made in several
denominations. What is the common name of these coins?
Artifact 38
The
large iron balls on the ship's binnacle (compass stand) at right serve an
important purpose. Their closeness to the compass can be adjusted. What is
the purpose of these iron balls?
Artifact 37
The
girl at right is using a navigation instrument. What is it called?
Artifact 36
In
honor of the 60th anniversary of D-Day, the allied invasion of Europe,
here's a timely question. On D-Day, the beaches of Normandy were lined with
thousands of these steel-beam barricades. Their common name is the same as
that of a small wild animal. What are they called?
Artifact
35
The brass object at right is an early navigation instrument. What is it
called?
Artifact
34
Strings of buoys like these were commonly seen at harbor entrances during
World Wars I and II. What was their purpose?
Artifact 33
The
enclosed ship's stairway at right has a special name. What is it called?
Artifact 32
This
brass and glass object at right was recovered from an old steamship. It is about 12 inches long. What is it?
Artifact
31
These brass objects were recovered from the Anransas wreck off Cape
Cod. They are about 3 inches in diameter. What are they?
Artifact 30
This brass object was a common piece of equipment on ships in the past
century. It is about 3 feet tall. What is it?
Artifact 29
The porcelain object at right was an important piece of personal equipment
in days gone by. What is it?
Artifact 28
The rusted and cracked iron object at right was originally about 6
inches in diameter. It was submerged in salt water for 100 years. What is it?
Artifact 27
The
brass object at right was recovered from the steamer Rhode Island wreck in
Narragansett By. It is about 5 inches long. What is it?
Artifact 26
The
World War I German submarine U-117 was studied by the U.S. Navy after
the war (photo at right). What was the function of the saw-toothed edge on
the bow?
Artifact 25
We
found the brass object at right in the Maritime Museum in Halifax, NS. It is
about 18 inches wide. What is it?
Artifact 24
The
artifact at right is displayed in the Mariners' Museum in Newport News, VA.
It is about 10 feet long. What is it?
Artifact 23
The brass object at right was recovered from the steamer Rhode Island
wreck in Narragansett Bay. What is it?
Artifact 22
The
equipment set at right was commonly used on ships in the past century. What
is it?
Artifact 21
The
object at right is from an old ship. What is it?
Artifact 20
The
picture at right shows a ship artifact partially buried on the seafloor. The
round part is about 12 inches in diameter. What is the artifact?
Artifact 19
A
century ago, hardwood dowels, like the one at right, were commonly used to
fasten the hull frames of wooden ships. Note the expansion wedge in the end
of the dowel. What are these dowels called?
Artifact 18
The
yellow cylindrical object at right was recovered from the Steamer Rhode
Island wreck, sunk in Narragansett Bay in 1880. It is hard as a rock,
has a subtle chemical smell, and was a common household item in the past
century. What is it?
Artifact 17
The bronze
hardware at right was recovered from an old steamship. The large pulleys are
about 4 inches in diameter. What was this hardware used for? Hint - think
communication.
Artifact 16
The tackle block at right was recovered from the Joseph S. Zeman
wreck in Maine. It's a type of deadeye, but has a special name. What is it
called?
Artifact 15
The
bronze object at right was recovered from the wreck of the mine sweeper USS
Grouse, off Rockport, MA. The outer ring is about 6 inches in diameter.
What is it?
Artifact 14
The
brass object at right was recovered from the steamer Pinthis wreck.
Its height is about 4 feet. What is it?
Artifact 13
The wood
and brass object at right was
recovered from a New England wreck. What is it?
Artifact 12
We
found the wood artifact at right displayed in a hotel lobby in the Florida
Keys. Its overall length is about 5 feet. What is it?
Artifact 11
Since
many people had trouble identifying last month's artifact, this month's will
be an easy one. The lantern at right is a reproduction of an important piece
of equipment from an old ship. What is it? Note that the color of the lens
is a clue to its identity.
Artifact 10
The artifact at right was
recovered from an old steam tug. It is made of brass and its overall length
is approximately 6 inches. What is it?
Artifact 9
The
photo at right was taken last summer by NOAA researchers on the wreck of the
Steamer Portland in Massachusetts Bay. It shows two large iron
objects from the deck of the vessel. What are these objects?
Artifact 8
The
clear glass objects at right are used in ship construction and are found mostly
on old
ships and classic yachts. The right one
was recovered from an old wreck; the left one is new. The typical
diameter is 4-5 inches. What are they?
Artifact 7
The
device at right was used on most World War II German U-boats. No, it's not a
typewriter, what is it?
Artifact 6
The
dark brown structural member at right is used extensively in the
construction of wooden ships. What is the nautical name for this
object?
Artifact 5
In the old days, the apparatus at
right was used to rescue people from shipwrecks that occurred near shore.
What is the name of this apparatus?
Artifact 4
The
handsome door knocker at right was made from a shipwreck artifact. What is
the artifact?
Artifact 3
The two bronze objects at right
were recovered from the wreck of the wood-hulled schooner Joseph S. Zeman. They
work together as a set. What
are they?
Artifact 2
The brass object at right was found on the
wreck of the USS Yankee. Its longest dimension is 8 inches and it
originally had a cylindrical wood handle on the shaft end. What is it? Hint,
note that the flared end looks something like a shoe horn.
Artifact 1
To
get you started, our first question is an easy one... What is the name of the wood object pictured at right? Many of them were used
on old sailing ships. Their size ranges up to 12 inches in diameter.
Caution, similar objects with different hole configurations have different
names.
