Last week, a shipwreck washed up on Terschelling, one of the Wadden islands
Translated by Thomas Ansell
Researchers from the Dutch cultural authority (Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed) have now said that the ship-wreck seems to be over 250 years old- one of the researchers, Maritime Archeologist Thijs Coenen, said that the wreck was “an outstanding find”, as reported by the Omrop Fryslân.
According to Coenen, the techniques used in building the ship are different from previous finds- and that is unique. Why the ship was built in this was is unclear: “it is maybe because there had to be a less heavy construction on the top of the ship”, said Coenen.
The rest of the ship has several likenesses to others from the sixteenth century, leading Coenen to suggest that: “it is maybe 500 years old”. Samples were taken from the wreck on Tuesday, and will be tested to get a better picture of its origins. This can be seen, for example, in carbon-dating the wood used to build it. Coenen thinks that it is likely to be of Dutch origin, or from a country that also borders the North Sea.
The wreck’s pieces are currently being stored in a gemeente-owned yard, but they seem to be from the rear-end of the ship. Some of the researchers think that it could be a trading ship from its apparent design: “it is quite large, and heavily built, so is definitely a sea-going boat. Most of the time, these were trading boats”, said Coenen.
It was washed up on the Frisian island following a storm, however the team of researchers had to wait to come and examine it due to Storm Ciara, which made the island somewhat inaccessible. The remains of the craft will now be 3D scanned, so that researchers can digitally ‘rebuild’ it. Discussions are ongoing as to what to do with the wreck, but it is likely to end up in a museum.
Image via WikiUser Reboelje (License free)
