The wreckage of the Quedagh Merchant, which was captured by notorious pirate William Kidd in 1698 carrying treasure from East India, was found just 10 feet from the surface off Catalina Island.
A team of scuba-diving archaeologists from the United States that have been working on the wreckage have discovered cannons, which might have been used as ballast, and bits of anchors under the cannons.
Charles Beeker, an archeologist and a lecturer at Indiana University, said "We believe this is a living museum," adding that "the treasure in this case is the wreck itself."
"Through rigorous archeological investigations, we will conclusively prove that this is the Capt. Kidd shipwreck," anthropologist Geoffrey Conrad said.
Captain Kidd, as he was also known, abandoned the ship in 1699 and after capture was hanged in London for piracy in 1701. His body was gruesomely dipped in tar and for two years it hung over the River Thames to put off would-be pirates.
