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The treasure of the famous pirate William Kidd lies since the 17th century off the coast of Madagascar ?

This is what hope American explorers, which recovered Thursday (of the week last) an ingot of silver from 45 kg discovered in a wreck that could be the vessel of “Captain Kidd”.

Search operations are entirely filmed by a British production company, under the direction of archaeologist Barry Clifford. What is the concern of Unesco, who dreads scientific rigour required to search a site as valuable to be sacrificed to the commercial interest of the proponents of the project.

“At the bottom, It is a film crew which acts directly on an archaeological site. This should not be allowed”, has told the AFP Ulrike Guerin, expert in underwater archaeology in the Organization of United Nations science and culture (UNESCO).

It is Barry Clifford himself, who climbed from the bottom of the sea the silver ingot, that lay in the “Pirate Bay”, off the coast of the small island of Sainte-Marie, Northeast of Madagascar. He surrendered to the Chairman Hery Rajaonarimampianina, come attend the event with members of his Government and the ambassadors of the United States and Britain.

“We found thirteen ships in the Bay of pirates and we worked on two of them for ten weeks, the Fire Dragon and the ship's Captain Kidd, the Adventure Galley”, has said Barry Clifford.

“After fifteen years of research and expeditions to Madagascar, I finally made an extraordinary discovery”, He continued: “In a study of the ship that I believe to be the Adventure Galley of Captain Kidd, I recovered a huge silver ingot. All evidence indicates that it belongs to the treasure of Captain Kidd. It is an incredible discovery for my team, But even more for Madagascar and the history of the world.”

William Kidd, said Captain Kidd, was born in Greenock, in Scotland, the 22 January 1645, and died hanging from London the 23 may 1701. It is found in the literature of Edgar Poe and American popular culture, as well as in comics or video game.
The treasure hunters from around the world are looking for her fabulous booty for many years.

– ' Destroy a heritage’ –

The “Captain Kidd” began his career as a privateer in the service of the English Crown. As such, It was supposed to chase pirates. Before that it only becomes itself a pirate.

On the Adventure Galley, a ship equipped with 34 guns and cash a hundred men of crew, Kidd has sown terror in the oceans, raising between 1696 and 1698 a fortune in gold, Silk and jewelry. Finally arrested, He was executed by hanging.

Since, the fate of the ship and its treasure has fueled one of the most enduring legends and the greatest mysteries of underwater archaeology.
“This ingot”, carefully indicated in a press release the History television channel which must broadcast a documentary on these excavations, “could finally reveal where rests the legendary flagship of Captain Kidd, the Adventure Galley, with his treasure lost”.

“According to the first studies of the distinctive signs present on the ingot, (…) experts believe that it would be similar to ingots which is assumed to be part of the spoils of Kidd. Further analysis will be needed to confirm these early results”, She added.
The enthusiasm of “discoverers”, and their broadcasters, However hardly reassured the United Nations. “We are very concerned”, accepts Ms Guérin, UNESCO. “We are faced with a very rapid response on an archaeological site without scientific assurances.”
Unesco, She says, does not say that things were badly made, but will send a team on-site –at the request of the Malagasy authorities– to check the quality of the excavations.

“It is useless to discover the treasure, If it is to destroy the entire archaeological site around”, It warned. “Cannot destroy a world heritage just to recover money”.

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In this photo taken Thursday, May, 7, 2015 underwater explorer Barry Clifford, right, present a silver bar he believes is part of the treasure of the pirate Captain Kidd, to the president of Madagascar, Hery Rajaonarimampianina, I t, on Sainte Marie Island, Madagascar. (AP Photo/Martin Vogl)