ARCHAEOLOGIST DISCOVERS A UNIQUE WEAPON CHEST ON A WRECK DATING BACK TO 15TH CENTURY

Researchers inspect and document timbers belonging to the ship’s superstructure (Florian Huber)

Fri 03 May 2024:

Archaeologists have found a unique weapons chest in a sunken 15th-century ship off the coast of Sweden, Britian’s The Independent newspaper reported.

They assessed the remains of the Danish flagship Gribshunden, or Griffin, which caught fire during its voyage to Kalmar in 1495 and sank in the Blekinge archipelago with a hundred German mercenaries onboard, said the report.

While underwater analysis of the ship has been carried out since 2013, much of the weaponry linked to its soldiers has escaped detailed examination.

A new survey has enabled archaeologists to reconstruct and analyze the ship’s superstructure, offering more insights about what the vessel looked like and its military capability. It has also helped identify and document two cannon carriages and a weapons chest onboard the ship.

“It’s an ammunition tool chest, probably belonging to the German mercenaries who were on board at the time of the sinking,” Rolf Warming, who was involved in the survey, said.

“The contents of the weapon chest are undeniably one of the most important finds,” he added. “It contains, among other things, several different molds and lead plates for the manufacture of lead bullets for early handguns.”

Researchers believe studying the ship will help understand the evolution of military technology during an era when primary tactics shifted from hand-to-hand combat to heavy naval artillery fire.

“The ship will therefore also be compared with other important and uniquely preserved wrecks – such as Mars (1564) and Vasa (1628) – in order to understand this development,” The Independent quoted Warming as saying.

Researchers previously found armor fragments scattered at the wreck site, likely from the apparel of crew members.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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