"Glass" weather - completion of the second stage of research work on a 17th-century shipwreck

Divers and archaeologists from the National Maritime Museum in Gdańsk have just finished this year’s research on the wreck of the 17th-century ship called “Szklany”. The research and digitalisation of the exhibits is aimed at developing the Virtual Wreck Museum – a branch of the National Maritime Museum which can be visited… on the Internet.

Two years ago the works on the “Szklony” ended with a huge success for the research team. – On board we found three cannons, barrels with iron bars coming from the south of Poland, as well as glass bottles with punches of one of the 17th-century Gdańsk metalworkers,” explains Dr. Tomasz Bednarz, head of the Digitisation Department at the National Museum in Gdańsk and head of the team conducting the research.

-- Advertisement --

Detailed examination confirmed the assumption of researchers that the “Szklany” is a remnant of a merchant ship from the second half of the 17th century, which probably sailed with its cargo from Gdańsk. The cause of its sinking was probably fire, because archaeologists found traces of burning on the wreck.

This year’s research, carried out by a team of researchers composed of dr Tomasz Bednarz, Zbigniew Jarocki, Wojciech Joński and Karol Treder, resulted in the excavation of another batch of bottles, tin caps with Gdańsk punches, ceramics, a spoon tap and an oar from an auxiliary boat. The stern part of the wreck was also discovered and is being documented in order to create a new 3D model of this part of the site. In addition, positioning of the site will be carried out using the USBL MicronNav system, an underwater GPS navigation system which is of great help in the development of the Virtual Wreck Open-Air Museum.

– The Virtual Wreck Museum, a project run by the Museum for two years now, is going well. It is one of the most ambitious, but also most labour-intensive projects conducted by our institution. – says Dr. Tomasz Bednarz, head of the Digitisation Department at the National Museum of Art and originator of the Virtual Wreck Museum.

No one needs to be convinced of the necessity of using digital techniques for documenting cultural heritage. How important this subject is in contemporary museology is confirmed, for example, by the Sybilla award, which is an award given to the most interesting exhibitions, projects, publications and investments in Polish museums. In May this year, the National Maritime Museum in Gdansk received the Sybil 2016 in the field of “Digitisation and New Technologies” for the project “Virtual Open Air Wreck Museum of the Gulf of Gdansk. Registration and inventory of underwater archaeological heritage”.

– Awards are important because they confirm the rightness of the chosen research direction, but more important is e.g. satisfaction when a wreck gives us back its riches – says Tomasz Bednarz, Ph.

Source: nmm.pl