The Vasa was built in Sweden and launched on August 10, 1628, though she didn’t make it very far. Within a mile of setting off, strong winds caused Vasa to capsize, and she quickly took on water from open gun ports.
Thanks to the preserving agent, polyethylene glycol, Vasa’s hull has been maintained in remarkable condition since she was excavated from the seafloor in 1961. That preservation has given researchers access to information that would otherwise be lost, but now DNA testing is helping researchers learn more than ever about who died when Vasa went down.
Using bones recovered from the vessel and since exhumed from their burial sites, the Vasa research team has been able to use nuclear DNA testing to learn that women were aboard the ship.It was uncommon in 1628 for a woman to be aboard a ship at sea, but starting with one woman in particular, researchers are gaining more insight as to why she and other women were aboard Vasa.
Fred Hocker, director of the Vasa Museum in Stockholm leads the research project on the ship and its mysteries. Per Hocker, the woman’s spine seemed to have “lived a life of very hard work.” While researchers can’t say why the woman named G. was aboard Vasa, they speculate she was a sailors’ wife or may have passed as a man. While it remains a mystery, more research will help complete the story of who was aboard Vasa.
For the full New York Times story, click here.
