Two wrecks hundreds of years old discovered in the Baltic Sea - video

The year has just started, but we already have information about the first interesting underwater findings in the Baltic Sea! Swedish archaeologists during their routine work came across wrecks of two wooden vessels, which are several hundred years old. The work was carried out as part of the creation of a new maritime museum in Stockholm.

It is extremely interesting that one of the wrecks may date back to around the 14th century! If this information is confirmed, it would be a great find, because such old wrecks are a real rarity and a unique opportunity to complement the knowledge of nautical science, boatbuilding, but also everyday life at sea.

-- Advertisement --

Underwater archaeologists made their discovery just before Christmas. During a routine dive, while collecting materials – mainly photos – for a newly created museum, they came across a real Christmas surprise! Two magnificent wooden wrecks, previously unknown to anyone.

It is not a well-known fact that the Baltic Sea is a real graveyard of vessels that have operated in its waters over the centuries. It is safe to say that it is one of the best places in the world for those interested in wreck diving. All because of the unique conditions, which can make each sunken vessel a real time capsule for the next several hundred years.

A significant part of the wrecks in this region are vessels from around the 17th and 18th century, when the area experienced a huge economic boom. Vessels from earlier centuries are extremely rare, and therefore the information they can provide is very valuable. It is therefore not surprising that researchers were excited when they came across an unknown wreck from around the 14th century.

[blockquote style=”2″]”When I realised what I was looking at, my pulse quickened. I had never seen such well-preserved wreckage before!” – Jim Hansson, a Swedish archaeologist, reported in an interview with The Local[/blockquote].

The wreck that arouses so much excitement among connoisseurs of the subject is most probably a coga. The vessel measures 23 to 25 metres long and about 7 metres wide. It is mostly buried in the seabed, which has definitely contributed to such a good state of preservation, for more than five centuries spent on the bottom of the Baltic Sea.

The second wreck found was provisionally classified as the remains of a 16th century ship. The cargo of this vessel consisted, among other things, of 20 large barrels full of wrought iron Osmond(read: Osmund, also called osborn), kitchen utensils and various tools. Representatives of the National Maritime Museum said in their statement that they had not encountered a similar find of this scope on any other wreck before.

“The Treasures of the Baltic Sea” This is the name of the new maritime museum in Stockholm. It is scheduled to open in 2020 and will be located on the island of Djurgården, close to the legendary “Vasa” Museum. So if you’re going to Stockholm in the next few years, it’s worth setting aside more time to visit both sites.

[blockquote style=”2″]”The new museum will of course include artefacts discovered on the seabed and fragments of wrecks, but there will certainly be no new whole wrecks, as in the case of the ‘Vasa’ ship. Wrecks are best kept where they were found, which is on the sea bed. Instead, visitors will be able to take part in a virtual dive, visiting our finds thanks to the latest advances in technology.” – explained Cecilia Eriksson, spokesperson for the National Maritime Museum[/blockquote].

The location of the wrecks found remains, of course, a mystery. The vessels will now be thoroughly examined by archaeologists. Appropriate photo and video documentation will be created, as well as an inventory of the found objects, some of which will certainly be included in museum exhibitions in the future.

Source: thelocal.se Photo: Mikael Fredholm, Jim Hansson/Swedish National Maritime Museums

[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”31298″]