"Find of the decade": a merchant ship sunk 400 years ago and found off the coast of Portugal

Last year, archaeologists found a merchant ship sunk 400 years ago near the coast of Portugal. Scientists literally immediately dubbed this discovery "the find of the decade."

“From the point of view of historians, this is the discovery of the decade. And for Portugal, this is the most important discovery in history,” said the head of the archaeological expedition, Georges Freire.

The vessel was found at a depth of 12 meters near the city of Cascais, near Lisbon. Ceramic vessels and cannons with the coat of arms of Portugal were scattered around it.

Probably the ship was returning from India and sank between 1575 and 1625. It was during this period that Portugal controlled most of the trade between Europe and India.

According to Freire, the objects found at the bottom of the sea, as well as the remains of the ship itself, are extremely well preserved. Chinese porcelain of the end of the 16th - beginning of the 17th centuries, bronze cannons, as well as cowry shells, which were used in the Indian Ocean in those times as currency, were discovered.

The archaeological research of this area has been going on for 10 years thanks to the financial assistance of the City of Cascais, the government of Portugal, the country's navy, and the New University in Lisbon. The mayor of the city, Carlos Carreiras, said in an interview that this is an “extraordinary discovery” that will reinforce, in his words, “local identity.”