Yo Ho! A boat found 20 km off the coast of Stockholm is waiting for scientists from the city’s Shipwrecks Museum to raise funds to advance their research.
Several ships have been found in the Swedish archipelago dating from different dates, 17th and 18th centuries, belonging to the Viking era. The finishes, the condition of the ships favor their identification although an increase in funds for the investigations would be of great help to unearth all the treasures that keep these boats and those that still remain to find.
Underwater treasures
We have all heard, seen or read stories about ships that hold treasures inside them and are found in the depths of the sea. Wouldn’t it be crazy to find one? This has been the case for the archaeologists at the Shipwreck Museum in Stockholm, who have carried out a very extensive research which has been held up by lack of funds and resources. These researchers have found a boat 20 km off the coast of the country, which they claim could be nothing less than a real Viking ship.
New contributions
According to researchers, “This ship represents a fascinating transition from medieval to modern shipbuilding”. The condition of the boats has revealed that both the Viking ships and those from other northern localities before them, have unique construction characteristics.They were handmade pieces with clinker as main material. It can also be seen that the hull is composed of long plates which overlap each other. Another characteristic was the reinforcement they presented in the hull, an idea that took in the seventh century of the Mediterranean region. This was a crucial aspect as the cannons had begun to be protagonists in the battles offshore.
More than one treasure
There is a lot of research done on the discovery of boats at the bottom of the sea, both by the Shipwreck Museum in Stockholm and by other museums and research teams. Since the 19th century, research indicates that there are five ships found in the Swedish archipelago, which undoubtedly belong to the Viking era. It has been possible to verify thanks to the good condition in which they were found.
Moreover, they belong to different moments of history. According to the researchers, four of the boats belong to the 17th and 18th centuries, which is a big time difference. Thanks to technological advances, 3D tools have been applied in the latest research, which has indicated that one of these ships is much younger than the others. And not that, but it is the first boat of those characteristics in the whole Nordic region! Wow! How many chances were there to find it? This is why the archaeologists of the Shipwreck Museum in Stockholm place them on a time line between 1460 and 1480.
Barriers to research
Any type of study or research requires resources and funds to be carried out. It is hardly new to know that many researches related to different areas of science and biology are paralyzed by lack of funds. Medicine, Astronomy, Biology, Paleontology, are some of the subjects that suffer these consequences of lack of resources.
In the case of Archeology, studies half way through or without even being able to begin are becoming more frequent. These investigations do not consist in playing pirates and seeing who finds the lost treasure first. It’s about being able to draw a clear time line, to reassemble our history and know where we come from. Hopefully some day this lack of resources and funds will be filled and we can bring to the surface all that knowledge that is still under the sea.
Want to know which other treasures have been found under the sea?
