15th Century Dutch Warship Figurehead Lifted From the Baltic Sea
Archaeology, Baltic Sea, Gribshunden, Netherlands
Daily Mail (8/11):
A wooden sea monster has emerged from the Baltic sea after lying on the ocean floor for more than half a millenium.
The creature, which has ‘lion ears and crocodile-like mouth’, is around 660lbs (300kg) and stood at the prow of a 15th-century Danish warship.
It was carefully lifted from the coast of Ronneby in southern Sweden [last August] by divers bringing up treasures from the wreck of the ‘Gribshunden’.
A sea monster has emerged from the Baltic sea after lying on the seabed for more than half a millenium
The Gribshunden, which belonged to Danish King John, is believed to have sunk in 1495 after it caught fire on its way from Copenhagen to Kalmar on Sweden’s east coast.
Although the hull suffered extensive damage, the remaining bits make it one of the best preserved wrecks of its kind, dating from roughly the same period as Christopher Columbus’s flagship, the Santa Maria.
