A late 16th century Dutch shipwreck was recently found near Cape Kamenjak in Kroatia. The merchant ship, armed with iron cannons, probably sunk due to an unexpected storm.
The ship’s cargo included grain beads and ceramic vessels, likely en route to Venice, which was suffering from famine during that period.

But the most extraordinary find on the ship consist of 10 brass trumpets:

“The trumpets were being transported in pieces. We can see that when looking at the number of these parts, and we know that there were more than ten of them. There are only less than 10 trumpets from the 16th century in well-known museums across the entire world,” said Luka Bekić PhD from the International Centre for Underwater Archaeology in Zadar.

International Centre for Underwater Archaeology, Kroatia

Part of a bronze trumpet from the shipwreck

Inscription

Archaeologists from the UNESCO category 2 center in Zadar have determined

the origin based on inscriptions on the trumpets. The inscription 'LVGDVNY BATAVORVM' is the Latin name for the city of Leiden in the Netherlands.

Given the cargo and specific details, it seems likely that the ship in question was of Dutch origin and traded between the Netherlands and the Mediterranean. In this case Venice.

CC BY-NC © Fondation Custodia, Collection

A comparable ship from a slightly earlier period (engraving Pieter Breugel the Elder, ca 1565)

Dutch ships that traded with cities around the Mediterranean Sea were called 'Straatvaarders' at that time. It was a new type of ship developed in Holland at the end of the 16th century. The so-called fluyt ship.

Research
Currently, underwater archaeologists from Zadar, together with members of the Pula Police Intervention Unit and collaborators from Slovakia, Germany, Slovenia and Spain, are investigating the wooden ship structure.

Fragments of the ship's equipment, including wooden pulleys and ropes, were also discovered during the investigation besides four iron cannons.

The research is funded by the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia.

Flut-like ship?

In Holland a ship from the same period was excavated between 1987-1997. The Scheurrak SO1 wreck was a flute-like Dutch merchant ship from the same period as the Kamenjak ship. She may represent a similar shiptype as the Kamenjak wreck.

Besides this there is another interesting similarity. The oldest example of a trumpet to date was found in the Scheurrak SO1 wreck. The instrument in question was made in Italy, in Genoa 1589.

RCE

Replica of the trumpet found in the Scheurrak SO1 wreck. Inscription on the beaker Lissandro Milanese me fecit Genua 1589 (Lissandro Milanese heeft mij gemaakt te Genua in 1589

RCE

• Arkeonews.net.
• International Centre for Underwater Archaeology in Zadar.
  2024 Franina near Premantura Underwater Archaeological Investigation.