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Preserving the Mary Rose oak hull for future generations is a major challenge due to the highly heterogeneous nature of waterlogged wooden artifacts, which contain polycrystalline, amorphous, and nanostructured materials that test traditional characterization methods. Effective conservation requires detailed knowledge of the distribution and chemical nature of these species to develop strategies for preventing multiple chemo-mechanical degradation pathways. Here, we apply synchrotron-based computed tomography total scattering methods to the Mary Rose keelson wood that provides valuable position-resolved structural information on multiple embedded species of different length and concentration scales. We identify 5 nm zinc sulfide nanoparticles in the wood, presumably deposits from bacteria operating on the sulfur energy cycle under the anaerobic conditions on the seabed. These are identified as precursors to acid attack on the wood upon removal to an aerobic environment. These insights inform not only next-generation conservation strategies, but also the efficacy and unforeseen issues of previous treatments.

Preserving the Mary Rose oak hull for future generations is a major challenge due to the highly heterogeneous nature of waterlogged wooden artifacts, which contain polycrystalline, amorphous, and nanostructured materials that test traditional characterization methods. Effective conservation requires detailed knowledge of the distribution and chemical nature of these species to develop strategies for preventing multiple chemo-mechanical degradation pathways. Here, we apply synchrotron-based computed tomography total scattering methods to the Mary Rose keelson wood that provides valuable position-resolved structural information on multiple embedded species of different length and concentration scales. We identify 5 nm zinc sulfide nanoparticles in the wood, presumably deposits from bacteria operating on the sulfur energy cycle under the anaerobic conditions on the seabed. These are identified as precursors to acid attack on the wood upon removal to an aerobic environment. These insights inform not only next-generation conservation strategies, but also the efficacy and unforeseen issues of previous treatments.

There is a considerable research gap in both maritime and military history concerning the naval use of bowmen. For over three millennia—spanning from the ancient Egyptians until around the year AD 1600—archery was a key component in maritime combat. This essay highlights the importance, flexibility, and impact of naval archery with special attention given to European waters in the late Middle Ages and the early modern period.

This study aims to promote consistent observations of sacralization, a relatively common form of lumbosacral transitional vertebrae (LSTV). Sacralization can inform on genetic affiliation. There are four types, ranging from enlarged transverse processes to bony ankylosis. Complete sacralization reportedly occurs in 1.5%-14% of archeological and modern populations, yet clinical studies can conflate types, resulting in rates as high as 46%. Archeologically obtained sacra and lower lumbar vertebrae from two historical shipwrecks (16th century English warship Mary Rose and 17th century Swedish warship Kronan) are compared via gross observation. These semi-documented individuals, fit enough to be on a warship during battle, have a documented cause, manner, and date of death. The assemblages yield 120 sacra; complete sacralization is compared between the crews. Both crude and true prevalence of bony ankyloses are recorded with chi(2) analyses testing significance. Both samples have 16.7% true prevalence of complete sacralization, with 38.3% of Mary Rose sacra and 26.7% of Kronan sacra showing some variant of LSTV. It is possible the high rates of sacralization shown in both crews are related to the samples being drawn from similar populations: a Swedish clinical study finds a similar rate of 13.9% for complete sacralization. However, reported rates of less than 1.0% in other archeological samples suggest that true sacralization is inconsistently recognized. Finally, clinical and archeological studies either conflate all types or fail to state their diagnostic criteria, reducing the ability to accurately compare findings.

There is a considerable research gap in both maritime and military history concerning the naval use of bowmen. For over three millennia—spanning from the ancient Egyptians until around the year AD 1600—archery was a key component in maritime combat. This essay highlights the importance, flexibility, and impact of naval archery with special attention given to European waters in the late Middle Ages and the early modern period.

There is a considerable research gap in both maritime and military history concerning the naval use of bowmen. For over three millennia—spanning from the ancient Egyptians until around the year AD 1600—archery was a key component in maritime combat. This essay highlights the importance, flexibility, and impact of naval archery with special attention given to European waters in the late Middle Ages and the early modern period.

There is a considerable research gap in both maritime and military history concerning the naval use of bowmen. For over three millennia—spanning from the ancient Egyptians until around the year AD 1600—archery was a key component in maritime combat. This essay highlights the importance, flexibility, and impact of naval archery with special attention given to European waters in the late Middle Ages and the early modern period.

There is a considerable research gap in both maritime and military history concerning the naval use of bowmen. For over three millennia—spanning from the ancient Egyptians until around the year AD 1600—archery was a key component in maritime combat. This essay highlights the importance, flexibility, and impact of naval archery with special attention given to European waters in the late Middle Ages and the early modern period.

The aim of the MA thesis is to discuss and analyse different illustrations, paintings, carvings in wood and stone and woodcuts of ships of the new kind (Carrack, carvels), from the 15th century to the middle of the 16th century, and compare them to the Griffon-hound ship, and to understand how they have evolved. The ships of the time had large stern and end castles, three to four masts, and where built for the war tactic of boarding. The oldest ship of the new kind that have been found, is the Griffon-hound, a ship that belonged to the Danish king Hans, and sunk due to a fire 1495 outside of Ronneby in southern Sweden. Besides being the oldest of its kind, the ship also has a very specific figurehead that resembles a monster with a screaming human head in its gap. By discussing and analysing the artworks it is possible to learn more about the ships. After analysing them, the result is that the artworks do show how the ships have evolved. Some of the different attributes that the artworks display have also been found when investigating the wreck of the Griffon-hound. More attributes might still be on the wreck site, hidden under the sediment. An example is the remains of the anti-boarding nets that a lot of the artworks show, and that have been found on the wreck of the Mary Rose, the English ship that belonged to king Henry VIII. The Mary Rose is younger than the Griffon-hound, but artworks of older ships also show the anti-boarding nets, or the beams on top of the castles. The purpose behind having a large variety of different artwork is to increase the knowledge about the ships of the time, and to make sure that the attributes that is being analysed doesn’t only occur in one or two artworks.

The aim of the MA thesis is to discuss and analyse different illustrations, paintings, carvings in wood and stone and woodcuts of ships of the new kind (Carrack, carvels), from the 15th century to the middle of the 16th century, and compare them to the Griffon-hound ship, and to understand how they have evolved. The ships of the time had large stern and end castles, three to four masts, and where built for the war tactic of boarding. The oldest ship of the new kind that have been found, is the Griffon-hound, a ship that belonged to the Danish king Hans, and sunk due to a fire 1495 outside of Ronneby in southern Sweden. Besides being the oldest of its kind, the ship also has a very specific figurehead that resembles a monster with a screaming human head in its gap. By discussing and analysing the artworks it is possible to learn more about the ships. After analysing them, the result is that the artworks do show how the ships have evolved. Some of the different attributes that the artworks display have also been found when investigating the wreck of the Griffon-hound. More attributes might still be on the wreck site, hidden under the sediment. An example is the remains of the anti-boarding nets that a lot of the artworks show, and that have been found on the wreck of the Mary Rose, the English ship that belonged to king Henry VIII. The Mary Rose is younger than the Griffon-hound, but artworks of older ships also show the anti-boarding nets, or the beams on top of the castles. The purpose behind having a large variety of different artwork is to increase the knowledge about the ships of the time, and to make sure that the attributes that is being analysed doesn’t only occur in one or two artworks.

The Tudor warship the Mary Rose sank in the Solent waters between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight on the 19th of July 1545, whilst engaging a French invasion fleet. The ship was rediscovered in 1971 and between 1979 and 1982 the entire contents of the ship were excavated resulting in the recovery of over 25,000 objects, including the skeleton of a small to medium sized dog referred to as the Mary Rose Dog (MRD). Here we report the extraction and analysis of both mitochondrial and genomic DNA from a tooth of this animal. Our results show that the MRD was a young male of a terrier type most closely related to modern Jack Russell Terriers with a light to dark brown coat colour. Interestingly, given the antiquity of the sample, the dog was heterozygotic for the SLC2A9 gene variant that leads to hyperuricosuria when found in modern homozygotic animals. These findings help shed light on a notable historical artefact from an important period in the development of modern dog breeds., QC 20150109