Researcher Mikael Larsson examines samples of saffron discovered after almost 500 years on the seabed on the wreck of the Gribshunden, a ship that sank in 1495 off Sweden’s Baltic coast, as he works in a laboratory in Lund University , Denmark, March 2, 2023.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
Archaeologists say they’ve uncovered a “unique” cache of well-preserved spices, from strands of saffron to peppercorns and ginger, on the wreck of a royal ship that sunk off Sweden’s Baltic coast greater than 500 years in the past.
The wreck of the Gribshund, owned by King Hans of Denmark and Norway, has lain off the coast off Ronneby since 1495 when it’s thought to have caught hearth and sank because the monarch attended a political assembly ashore in Sweden.
Rediscovered by sports activities divers within the Sixties, sporadic excavations of the ship have taken place lately. Previous dives recovered massive objects reminiscent of figureheads and timber. Now an excavation led by Brendan Foley, an archaeological scientist at Lund University, has discovered the spices buried within the silt of the boat.
“The Baltic is strange – it’s low oxygen, low temperature, low salinity, so many organic things are well preserved in the Baltic where they wouldn’t be well preserved elsewhere in the world ocean system,” mentioned Foley. “But to find spices like this is quite extraordinary.”
The spices would have been a logo of excessive standing, as solely the rich might afford items reminiscent of saffron or cloves that have been imported from outdoors Europe. They would have been travelling with King Hans as he attended the assembly in Sweden.
Lund University researcher Mikael Larsson, who has been learning the finds, mentioned: “This is the only archaeological context where we’ve found saffron. So it’s very unique and it’s very special.”
