Unusual navigation device found on wreck in Oman - video

While exploring the wreck of a ship that once belonged to the fleet of the legendary Vasco da Gama, archaeologists working underwater came across an extraordinary find! While combing through the remains of the vessel, which sank in 1503 off the coast of Oman, they found the oldest known piece of a navigational instrument called an astrolabe!

The astrolabe is an astronomical measuring instrument used in navigation until the early 18th century. With its help it was possible to determine the position of celestial bodies above the horizon. It was the predecessor of the sextant.

-- Advertisement --

The found artefact dates to between 1495 and 1500 and was found on a ship called the “Esmeralda”, which was part of the fleet of the legendary Portuguese traveller and explorer Vasco da Gama, who became famous as the first man to chart a sea route from Europe to India.

[blockquote style=”2″]”It’s an extraordinary privilege to be able to find something so rare, so historically important, which will be studied by the whole archaeological community and help fill in some gaps.” – said David Mearns of Blue Water Recovery, leading the archaeological work[/blockquote].

This unusual navigation device was excavated during work in 2014, among more than 3,000 other artifacts, as we wrote about here. The bronze disk measures 17.5cm in diameter and is less than 2mm thick.

[blockquote style=”2″]”It was like nothing we had found before. I immediately had a feeling it was something special, especially as the coat of arms of Portugal was on it.” – Mearns added[/blockquote].

The vessel was found by the Blue Water Recoveries research team in 1998, which was a great accent celebrating the 500th anniversary of da Gama’s voyage to India. Unfortunately, for various reasons, we had to wait until 2013 for the archaeological work to begin.

Since then, approximately 3,000 artifacts have been taken up from the bottom during three consecutive annual expeditions! All work is carried out under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Oman under the direction of David L. Mearns of BWR Ltd. And in strict compliance with the provisions of the 2001 UNESCO Convention for the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage.

In helping to identify the wreck, key findings included a bronze bell containing an inscription suggesting that the vessel was built in 1498, the Cruzado gold coins, cast in Lisbon between 1495 and 1501, and an extremely rare silver coin called the Indio, the creation of which was commissioned in 1499 by Portuguese King Dom Manuel I to trade with India. Its uniqueness is proven by the fact that only one existing coin is known in the whole world! The coin itself has even earned the name “the lost coin of King Dom Manuel”.

Source: bbc.com