When Henry VIII’s favorite warship, the Mary Rose, sank during the Battle of the Solent in 1545, most of its 415 crew members drowned. Now, reports Steve Deeks for the Portsmouth News, scientists using modern methods have uncovered remarkably detailed biographical information about eight of the Tudor flagship’s crew members, including one likely from Africa and two likely from southern Europe. The research, published in the journal Royal Society Open Source, used multi-isotope analysis of crew members’ teeth to identify evidence about the climate and geology of their homelands, as well as their childhood diets. The five remaining crew members included in the study were probably all from Britain; isotope analysis indicated their specific origins. In 1982, researchers raised the ship from the watery depths and recovered the (at least partial) remains of 179 crew members.

Source: The North Africa Journal May 05, 2021 18:45 UTC