Unique 400-Year-Old Sunken Ship Salvaged With Remains of High-Quality Wine

A 400-year-old sunken ship has been salvaged along with remains of high-quality wine and other intriguing discoveries.

Around 450 pieces of wood have been recovered from the shipwreck since salvage work by archaeologists in the German city of Lübeck began in June. The wreck was first discovered in 2022 lying at the bottom of the Trave River, which flows through Germany into the Baltic Sea. For a while, politicians argued over whether to salvage its remains, German newspaper Die Welt reported.

Once archaeologists got the go-ahead to salvage the wreck, they began to find more and more clues about the ship's purpose.

Each new find disclosed more details about the shipwreck. "The ship has revealed more secrets than we dared to hope for," Lübeck's chief archaeologist, Dirk Rieger, told Die Welt.

But what remains a mystery is who owned the ship and where the cargo came from. There are some clues—80 barrels of quicklime were found on board the ship in their original position. On some of these, archaeologists found several brand names that give information about the manufacturer of the goods, Die Welt reported.

Everyday objects were also discovered, providing archaeologists some insight into who may have been aboard the ship.

Most everyday finds were found in the stern and consisted of high-quality wine and schnapps bottles. Crockery like three-legged vessels and jute pots, along with decorated vessels, also offer clues. All of these objects suggest there was a social structure on board and provide information about the passengers' eating and drinking patterns.

The stern of the ship is well preserved, while the bow is mostly destroyed. It is clear that the vessel was intended for cargo.

It seems this ship was vastly different from any other discovered in the Baltic Sea. Archaeologists found that it is not a flat-bottomed ship, as originally thought, but has a keel.

"We were surprised by the good state of preservation of the wood and, above all, the construction of the fuselage," Rieger told Die Welt.

Another surprising find is that the body of the ship was particularly large, at around 75 feet.

The ship is not similar to other modern Dutch models that sailed in the Wadden Sea during this time. It is likely it was constructed in Lübeck under the influence of Dutch shipbuilders.

Now that hundreds of objects have been salvaged, the project is nearly at an end. One of the last things to be brought to shore was the ship's rudder.

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