The wreck of a 400 year old cargo ship that "sank almost standing", escaped decay from shipworms and still has barrels of lime it was carrying for the stone-building industry, has been discovered by maritime archaeologists in northern Germany.
In the 13th to 17th century, a group of northern European trade guilds dominated the Baltic and North seas. Only a few wrecks of this age have ever been found. Archaeologists think the wreck survived because it was quickly engulfed and protected by a layer of fine mud carried by the river Trave, which leads to the city of Lbeck.
The remains of the ship were discovered in 2020 during a routine survey of the Trave. The vessel is at a depth of about 11 meters in the mostly saltwater outer stretch of the river between Lbeck and the port of Travemnde at its mouth to the Baltic Sea.
A single-masted cargo ship common during the Hanseatic period may have been the one that was wrecked. The Hansa dominated trade throughout the Baltic and the North Sea at that time, thanks to the towns and guilds of northern Germany.
RECOMMENDED VIDEOS FOR YOU...
There was a trove of gold and jewels recovered from the wreck of a ship.
Jrgens said that a layer of river mud may have prevented the wreck from being colonized by Teredo navalis, a type of saltwater clam. The wooden wrecks in the western Baltic region are almost never found in the eastern Baltic because the bivalve doesn't live there.
The wooden barrels that were almost intact on the wreck indicate that the ship was carrying a cargo of quicklime when it sank. The mortar used in stonework is made from quicklime.
Jrgens said that the source of this would have been in the middle of Sweden. The cargo was most likely going to Lbeck because northern Germany doesn't have a lot of limestone.
The date of the ship's sinking may have been pinpointed. A letter from that date in the Lbeck historical archives shows that the voight asked someone to recover the cargo of a galliot that ran aground in the river. The results of a dating technique called dendrochronology showed that the tree rings seen in the timbers were from trees that were felled in the 1650s.
It's possible that the ship ran aground in a shallow area of the river before entering Lbeck, threatening ships that do not know about it. He said it's possible that 17th-century workers recovered some of the ships' cargo, causing the ship to refloat, but it sank due to leaks caused when it hit the shoal.
The entire ship is expected to be raised from the riverbed over the next few years so that it doesn't move again and present a danger to modern shipping in the region.
It is possible that the ship was built at Lbeck. At the time the ship sank in the Trave, it was common for such vessels to be built elsewhere in Europe.
The head of Hercules and other items were found on a Roman wreck.
The wreck is notable for its preservation due to the fact that there are no shipworms or other marine organisms present.
Schneider told Live Science that there are still about 70 barrels in their original location on the ship. The ship did not capsize. The ship's interior may contain more archaeological finds, he said.
Archeologists will be able to investigate the hull and construction of the ship if it is raised from the riverbed. Schneider said that rooms for the ship's crew in the stern that may hold everyday objects from the 17th century are likely to be found when the wreck is salvaged.
Although Lbeck was a center for Baltic trade during the Hanseatic period, very few authentic maritime objects from that time have survived. He said that there was a time capsule that transmitted everything that was on the plane. At the end of the Hanseatic period, there is a spotlight on the trade routes.
It was originally published on Live Science
All Rights Reserved © 2024
