17th Century Pirate Captain Kidd’s Treasure Found in Madagascar

A team of researchers from the US claim to have discovered silver treasure from the wreck of infamous Scottish pirate William Kidd's ship off the coast of Madagascar.

Archaeologist Barry Clifford said the team retrieved a 110 pound silver bar from the 'Adventure Gallery' ship located close to the Saint Marie.

Clifford gave the silver ingot to Madagascan President Hery Rajaonarimampianina in a ceremony that was attended by British and US ambassadors.

The archaeologist said, "We discovered 13 ships in the bay," Clifford said. "We've been working on two of them over the last 10 weeks.

"One of them is the 'Fire Dragon', the other is Captain Kidd's ship, the 'Adventure Galley'."

Archaeologist John de Bry, who was also a part of the ceremony said that the silver bar was "irrefutable proof that this is indeed the treasure of the 'Adventure Gallery'."

Captain Kidd was born in 1645 and was hired by the British to fight pirates during sea expeditions.

Kidd eventually became a pirate himself and gained wide spread notoriety when he looted a ship carrying valuable cargo in 1698.

He was however finally caught by the British authorities and executed at Wapping. His body was left to rot by the Thames River so that it could act as a deterrent to passers-by.

Even then the authorities could not retrieve the loot acquired by Kidd and its location remained a mystery for many generations of treasure hunters.

While the discovery has generated a lot of media interest, Clifford was also criticised by UNESCO over fears that they may have damaged the archaeological site.

 Ulrike Guerin, underwater specialist at UNESCO said, "It is basically a film team going and directly intervening at an archeological site -- that should not be the case."

"You should have a competent underwater archeologist there.

"We do not say everything that has been done is bad. We will go and check, but there are certain doubts about the scientific handling of the intervention.

"It is not enough that you find the treasure if you destroy the whole archaeological site with it."