Initially, this wreck found little interest, as the wooden construction did appear generic and was not thought to be particularly old.

The ship-timbers were privately stored and freeze-dried by the local resident Kaj Karlsson for many years, before it was decided to take samples for a dendrochronological analysis.

The samples were analysed at the University of Lund (Sweden), yielding a surprising result: The ship was built in the late 14th or early 15th century and the wood originated from at least two different locations: The pine timber from which mainly the frames were made originated from central or southern Finland, whereas the oak planks originated from Pomerania in modern-day Poland (the latter probably timber-imports).

Realising the significance, the timbers were transported to the Finnish Maritime Museum where they were incororated into the collections.

• Linderson, H. (2006)
  Dendrokronologisk analys av Svartsåvraket, Finland: Nationella Laboratoriet för Vedanatomi och dendrokronologi, rapport nr 2006:15.
  Lund University
• Wessman, S. (2007)
  Ship Fragments on the Seafloor – What Do We Know about Medieval Seafaring in Finland?
  pp 140-150
  Turku