Archaeologists who thought they may have found the remains of Christopher Columbus's flagship, the Santa Maria, off the northern coast of Haiti have been informed by a UNESCO mission of experts that the shipwreck is not Santa Maria and dates from a much later period.

In May 2014, archaeologists thought they may have uncovered one of the most significant discoveries in history — the wreckage of the Santa Maria.

According to the History channel, underwater archaeologist Barry Clifford and his team identified the location of the wreck that experts believe is the Santa Maria.

The location is consistent with accounts in Columbus’ diary, as well as modern ocean-current charts. “All the geographical, underwater topography and archaeological evidence strongly suggests that this wreck is ... the Santa Maria,” Clifford says.

On Dec. 24, 1492, the Santa Maria — one of three ships used in Columbus’ first voyage to the Americas — ran aground off the present-day site of Cap-Haïtien.

The site was photographed by Clifford’s team in 2003, but it wasn’t identified at the time. A decade later, land excavations tentatively located La Navidad — a fort Columbus’ crew built from Santa Maria’s timbers — bringing archaeologists back to investigate the wreckage.

Artifacts, including a cannon, were looted from the site before 2003, but photographic evidence remains intact, and Clifford's team hoped the cannon was from the Santa Maria.

UNESCO experts, however, found "incontestable proof that the wreck is from a much later period."