Geoarchaeological confirmation of shipwreck identity, Cockburn Reef, far-north Queensland, Australia

Investigation of a 19th-century shipwreck site on Cockburn Reef, northeastern Australia, suggests the wrecked ship was a British-/European-built vessel of 350-450 tons. The accompanying large quantity of ballast-rock suggests the vessel was sailing "in-ballast." Of the nine 19th-century ships reported lost on or near Cockburn Reef, these findings narrow contenders to the brig Druid (343 tons), wrecked there on a voyage from Hobart, Tasmania to Singapore or the barque Lady Sale (388 tons), wrecked there on a voyage from Sydney to Ceylon. The petrographic characteristics of a block of ballast-rock from the site prove it to be Hawkesbury (Sydney) Sandstone from New South Wales. This geoarchaeological evidence confirms the identity of the wreck to be that of the Lady Sale, which departed Sydney in-ballast. Historical evidence suggests that ballast-rock originating from Hobart probably comprised basalt, thus discounting the Druid.