In the pictures from the Norwegian Monument Protection Authority you can see it surprisingly well: the porcelain that an 18th century ship had on board. The wreck with the valuable cargo was discovered by a Norwegian at a depth of 600 meters off the coast of the Skagerrak in the North Sea. Norwegian Environment Minister Andreas Bjelland Eriksen calls the find “sensational.” “The shipwreck contains the best-preserved cargo of its kind ever found in Northern Europe,” the Norwegian Monuments Authority reported.
Photo: Sindre Kinnerød/Flash studio/dpa
In addition to the presumably Chinese porcelain, researchers on board the ship also found “chandeliers, glasses, textiles, grain and boxes that apparently contained tea, herbs and medicines. The work is still ongoing and the archaeologists continue to make new finds,” said the authority.
Fragments of chandeliers are said to possibly come from Germany or England. “A brick from the ship’s galley bears the stamp of the Lübeck council brickworks, which was in operation from the 15th century to 1772,” it said. The ship is said to have sunk around the middle of the 18th century.
Photo: Norsk Maritimt Museum/dpa
“Shipwrecks found on the coast are often destroyed or looted,” said Nina Refseth, director of the Norwegian Folk Museum Foundation, according to a statement. “Examining a find in the open sea and at this depth gives us the pleasure of looking into an almost untouched time capsule.” The first finds are scheduled to be presented in June at the Norwegian Maritime Museum in Oslo.
