A wooden figurehead of a sea monster with ears like a lion and a crocodile’s jaw has been carefully lifted from the sea in southern Sweden by divers bringing up treasures from the wreck of a 15th-century Danish warship.
The ferocious-looking figurehead, intended to scare the enemy, came from the wreck of the Gribshunden, which is believed to have sunk in 1495 after it caught fire on its way from Copenhagen to Kalmar on Sweden’s east coast.
Although the hull suffered extensive damage, the remaining bits of the ship make it one of the best-preserved wrecks of its kind, dating from roughly the same period as Christopher Columbus’s flagship, the Santa Maria. Read More
