A large team of researchers and archeologists announced the discovery an archaeological excavation of a Portuguese East Indiaman that was part of Vasco da Gama’s 1502-1503 Armada to India. The shipwreck found in Oman is the oldest from Europe’s age of exploration ever to be found.
The Portuguese ship is believed to be the Esmeralda, which was commanded by Vicente Sodré, a maternal uncle of Vasco da Gama and a descent of the nobleman Frederick Sudley of Gloucestershire, UK, according to a press release made by the team responsible for the discovery.
Esmeralda was initially discovered by Blue Water Recoveries Ltd in west Sussex, UK, (BWR), in 1998 on the 500th anniversary of Vasco da Gama’s discovery of the direct sea route to India, but extended research did not begin until 2013. Just now the team advanced in the research and revealed some of their findings.
Since the exploration begun, more than 2,800 artefacts have been recovered and carefully studied. Among them, the most outstanding one is a rare silver coin called the “indio,” which was commissioned by Dom Manuel in 1499 for the purpose of trading with India, according to Mashable.
Currently, there is only one other known example of the coin found in the world. It is also referred as the “lost” or “ghost” coin of Dom Manuel, the press release noted.
Among other findings, there is a copper-alloy disc marked with the Portuguese royal coat of arms and an esfera armilar, which was the personal emblem of King Dom Manuel I. In addition, a bronze bell with an inscription that suggested that the date of the ship was 1498 and gold cruzado coins minted in Lisbon between 1495 and 1501.
Proof of the military objectives of the Esmeralda fleet was also found, as ordered by Dom Manuel and carried out by the explorer Vasco da Gama and some family members. A bulk recovered artefacts were artillery and ordnance from the arsenal on board of the ship.
An unusual discovery
More than 500 years ago, the Esmeralda, along with another ship, was the leading vessel of a five-ship squadron left behind by Da Gama when he returned from India to Lisbon in 1503. The leading ship sank during a storm near al-Hallaniyah Island in the Indian Ocean in May 1503, killing its commander and everyone on board.
“This project differs from the majority of maritime archaeology projects in that we set out to specifically find the wreck site of the Sodré ships, using a survivor’s and other historical accounts, because of their very early age and the potential they held for new discoveries,” said the project Director, David L. Mearns.
It is extremely gratifying therefore that the strategy has paid off with such interesting revelations, even though they are at a relatively early stage in the study of the artefact assemblage, added Mearns.
Source: Esmeralda Shipwreck