The sinking of the Swedish battleship "Vasa" in 1628 cost about 30 lives - at least one victim was a woman, now shows an analysis of bones from the wreck. So far, it has not been possible to say exactly who she was. However, further genetic analysis of samples from the remains of the victims should soon reveal more about the people who drowned in the famous disaster, reports Uppsala University.
She was to become the showpiece of the Swedish fleet: in 1625, King Gustav II Adolf commissioned the construction of a mighty battleship. With a length of 69 meters and more than 60 guns, the galleon Vasa would become one of the largest battleships of the time and consolidate Sweden's position as a naval power. The lavishly decorated prestige object was finally completed in 1628. But the dream of fame ended in an embarrassing bankruptcy: The Vasa turned out to be a catastrophic design flaw, because it was too narrow and top-heavy.
This did not only become apparent during the course of her service, but led to disaster on the maiden voyage: After a short voyage, a modest gust of wind threw the battleship on its side near Stockholm, whereupon it quickly sank into the depths. The expensive prestige object tore about thirty participants of the maiden voyage with it. However, apart from one person named in written sources, it is not known who the victims were, writes Uppsala University.
Victims of the first and last ride
But that was not to be the end of the story of the Vasa and the victims: the wreck was salvaged and prepared at great expense in 1961. It is now on display at the Vasa Museum in Stockholm. When the ship was raised, the experts also carried out a comprehensive archaeological survey. They came across numerous human bones on board, which apparently came from victims of the sinking.
"Through the osteological analysis, a lot could be learned about these people, such as their age, height and medical history," says Fred Hocker, of the Vasa Museum. The current focus was on a find called skeletal remains "G" that had originally been classified as male. "But osteologists then hypothesized that G might have been female based on the characteristics of the pelvis. Therefore, DNA analysis should reveal more,” says Hocker.
This was commissioned by the Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology at Uppsala University in Sweden. “For us, examining the skeletons from the Vasa is both interesting and challenging. Because it is very difficult to extract DNA from bones that have lain on the sea floor for 333 years – but it is not impossible,” says Marie Allen from Uppsala University. First, there was a first indication that skeleton G was not a man: the researchers could not find a Y chromosome in the sample material. "But we couldn't be sure and wanted to confirm the result," Allen said. So the team turned to a US Department of Defense laboratory (AFMES-AFDIL) that specializes in DNA testing of human remains from deceased military personnel.
A mysterious woman
"We took new samples from the bones, which were then analyzed by the AFMES-AFDIL," says Allen. Thanks to a new test procedure, the lab was finally able to solve the case: "G was actually a woman," says Allen. For the Vasa Museum, the result is now another piece of the puzzle in researching the victims of the accident. "We want to get as close as possible to these people," says Anna Maria Forssberg from the Vasa Museum. According to her, there were already indications that women had also been on board. "Now we have received confirmation that the remains of a woman are among the finds," says the historian. So far, however, it remains unclear who she was. Was she a sailor's wife? “I am currently researching seafarers' wives, so this is particularly exciting to me as they are often forgotten even though they played an important role in the Navy,” says Forssberg.
Meanwhile, the team is now awaiting further results from samples of other remains being studied at the AFMES-AFDIL laboratory. The team hopes they can say something about what the people looked like - about what color hair and eyes they had and where their families might have come from. "We can now extract much more information from historical DNA than we could in the past, and the methods are constantly being refined," says Allen. Researchers at the Vasa Museum are currently trying to match finds to the skeletons. All the results will then be presented in an exhibition about the people who died on board the Vasa in the museum, writes Uppsala University.
Source: University of Uppsala