A Swedish warship sank in 1628. It still reveals secrets.

Researchers are learning more about those who died after the sinking of the Vasa, including a woman known as "G", than scientists have long considered a man.
On the afternoon of August 10, 1628, the Vasa, built by the Swedes to be one of the most powers of the Baltic, departed from the palace docks in Stockholm.
The Vasa did not even go a mile.
A strong gust of wind caused the 226-foot-long vessel to overturn as water poured through her open gunports, which were exposed for her maiden voyage.
About 150 people are said to have been on board when it sank; about 30 died.
Now, nearly 400 years later, advanced DNA testing is allowing researchers to learn more about the ship's dead, including a female known as "G", who researchers have long believed to be male. They even named her "Gustav" in a museum exhibit.
ImageDr. Fred Hocker, director of research at the Vasa Museum in Stockholm.Credit...Anneli Karlsson/Vasa Museum/SMTM
"It's fascinating to get an idea of who they are as individuals, but also what they tell us about what the Swedish population was like 400 years ago,” said Fred Hocker, director of the Vasa museum in Stockholm, where the ship is now on display in its entirety.
The resurrection of the Vasa began in 1958 and was completed in 1961 when the entire warship was lifted from the depths of Stockholm harbor .
The workers sprayed the ship with water, then applied the polyethylene glycol preservative for 17 years and allowed to dry for another nine years. mud on the seabed turned out to have kept the ship in remarkable condition. around the same time, said Dr. Hocker said. But the Vasa, he said, "is the most spectacular".
"It's an entire ship - it's huge!" he said. "The Vasa set the mold for what maritime archeology could be."
The recovery included more than 40,000 objects in and around the ship. However, the skeletal remains found inside the boat "gave us an archaeological problem", Dr. Hocker said.
The remains were first given a Christian burial in a naval cemetery. Twenty-six years later, as the Vasa Museum prepared to display the ship, the bones were exhumed for further study.
Due to damage waters, mishandling and missing identification numbers, they were not in ideal condition.
ImageResearchers at the Vasa Museum examine the remains of a woman who was among the dead after a 17th-century warship sank on its maiden voyage.Credit...Anna Maria Forssberg/ Vasa Museum/SMTM
Again, 2004, the museum began working with genetic experts from Uppsala University in Sweden to perform a baseline DNA study remains using mitochondrial DNA testing, which helps link skeletons via maternal relationships but does not reveal granular details, such as gender.

Researchers c ...

World Apr 8, 2023 0 65 Add to Reading List

A Swedish warship sank in 1628. It still reveals secrets.

Researchers are learning more about those who died after the sinking of the Vasa, including a woman known as "G", than scientists have long considered a man.

On the afternoon of August 10, 1628, the Vasa, built by the Swedes to be one of the most powers of the Baltic, departed from the palace docks in Stockholm.

The Vasa did not even go a mile.

A strong gust of wind caused the 226-foot-long vessel to overturn as water poured through her open gunports, which were exposed for her maiden voyage.

About 150 people are said to have been on board when it sank; about 30 died.

Now, nearly 400 years later, advanced DNA testing is allowing researchers to learn more about the ship's dead, including a female known as "G", who researchers have long believed to be male. They even named her "Gustav" in a museum exhibit.

ImageDr. Fred Hocker, director of research at the Vasa Museum in Stockholm.Credit...Anneli Karlsson/Vasa Museum/SMTM

"It's fascinating to get an idea of who they are as individuals, but also what they tell us about what the Swedish population was like 400 years ago,” said Fred Hocker, director of the Vasa museum in Stockholm, where the ship is now on display in its entirety.

The resurrection of the Vasa began in 1958 and was completed in 1961 when the entire warship was lifted from the depths of Stockholm harbor .

The workers sprayed the ship with water, then applied the polyethylene glycol preservative for 17 years and allowed to dry for another nine years. mud on the seabed turned out to have kept the ship in remarkable condition. around the same time, said Dr. Hocker said. But the Vasa, he said, "is the most spectacular".

"It's an entire ship - it's huge!" he said. "The Vasa set the mold for what maritime archeology could be."

The recovery included more than 40,000 objects in and around the ship. However, the skeletal remains found inside the boat "gave us an archaeological problem", Dr. Hocker said.

The remains were first given a Christian burial in a naval cemetery. Twenty-six years later, as the Vasa Museum prepared to display the ship, the bones were exhumed for further study.

Due to damage waters, mishandling and missing identification numbers, they were not in ideal condition.

ImageResearchers at the Vasa Museum examine the remains of a woman who was among the dead after a 17th-century warship sank on its maiden voyage.Credit...Anna Maria Forssberg/ Vasa Museum/SMTM

Again, 2004, the museum began working with genetic experts from Uppsala University in Sweden to perform a baseline DNA study remains using mitochondrial DNA testing, which helps link skeletons via maternal relationships but does not reveal granular details, such as gender.

Researchers c ...