Stunningly Preserved Time Capsule Ship Found

Live Science

The 400-year-old wreck of a cargo ship from the Hanseatic period of trade in the Baltic Sea, complete with the barrels of lime it was carrying for the stone-building industry, has been found in a river on the northern coast of Germany.

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00:00 Maritime archaeologists in northern Germany have discovered the wreckage of a 400-year-old

00:04 cargo ship that "sank almost standing".

00:12 In this region, wood quickly rots away underwater, and few shipwrecks of this age have ever been

00:18 found, but maritime archaeologists think the wreck survived beneath the waves because it

00:23 was quickly engulfed and protected by a layer of fine mud carried there by the river Trave.

00:29 This layer of river mud over the wreck may have also prevented it from being colonised

00:33 by Pteridonivalis, a type of saltwater clam called shipworm, that rapidly eats submerged

00:39 wood.

00:40 The Mollus quickly destroys wooden wrecks in the western Baltic region, but it doesn't

00:44 live in the colder waters of the eastern Baltic.

00:47 As a result, centuries-old wooden wrecks like the one in the Trave are almost never found

00:52 in the west.

00:53 The ship, a rare discovery, is from the Hanseatic period.

00:58 When northern European trade guilds dominated the Baltic and North Seas from the 13th to

01:03 17th centuries, historical research may have pinpointed the date of the shipwreck to December

01:08 1680.

01:10 About 150 wooden barrels found almost intact on or near the wreck indicate that the ship

01:15 was carrying a cargo of quicklime when it sank in the late 17th century.

01:21 Quicklime is made by burning limestone and is a crucial ingredient for the mortar used

01:25 in stonework, Manfred Schneider told Live Science.

01:29 There are still about 70 barrels in their original location on the ship, and another

01:34 80 barrels in the immediate vicinity.

01:36 The ship therefore sank almost standing and did not capsize.

01:40 Raising the ship from the riverbed will give archaeologists a chance to fully investigate

01:44 the hull and its construction, and perhaps identify its origin.

01:49 Schneider said, "The savage will probably also uncover previously unknown parts of the

01:54 wreck that are still hidden in the sediment, such as rooms for the ship's crew and the

01:58 stern that may still hold everyday objects from the 17th century."

02:02 [Music]

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