MEXICO — Archaeologists believe that they may have just discovered ship anchors from Hernán Cortés, the conqueror of the Aztec empire.

Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History have announced that two 500-year-old iron ship anchors have been discovered on Mexico's Gulf Coast. These anchors could belong to the ships of Spanish conquistador, Hernán Cortés, thus potentially offering an insight into the Spanish invasion.

Divers discovered the anchors 10 to 15 meters below the sea, under a thick layer of sediment. In 2018, just 1,000 feet away from the site, another anchor was found and dated back to the 15th century via its wood. The date is significant as it would fit with that of Hernán Cortés as records show he landed in Veracruz, Mexico in April 1519.

All three anchors were found on the coast just north of the port city of Veracruz.

Head of the Underwater Archeology Office, Dr. Roberto Junco details the most voluminous of the three anchors as 3.68 meters long and 1.55 meters wide between its tips.

Both anchors are well preserved as a result of being protected beneath the sediment of the ocean. For this reason, after documentation and measurement, they will be returned to adhere to the archaeological protocols of conservation.

Marine archaeologist Frederick Hanselmann explains why this is so important,

"The Conquest of Mexico was a seminal event in human history, and these shipwrecks, if we can find them, will be symbols of the cultural collision that led to what is now the West."