Miners in the Namibian desert have just unearthed a 500-year-old Portuguese shipwreck filled with gold coins worth about $13 million.
Gold coins found in ancient Portuguese shipwrecks. The ancient shipwreck is said to be one of the most important archaeological discoveries to date in Namibia – Photo: Dieter Noli
According to Independent, this priceless ancient shipwreck was found by mine workers of the De Beers diamond mining company.
Archaeologists confirm that this is the wreck of the Portuguese ship Bom Jesus. The ship departed from Lisbon in 1533 and disappeared with the entire crew in an area near the Namibian diamond mining town of Oranjemund while on its way to India.
Miners immediately notified a team of geological experts when they found the ship at a mine. On the sixth day of excavation, they found a huge amount of gold coins, sailors’ remains and many other seafaring tools.
Professor Timothy Insoll of the University of Manchester, an expert in African archeology, said that along with the finds, the porcelain recovered in the wreck was even more valuable than gold coins.
“This is a very important discovery, especially accessories such as religious artifacts and costumes, which can help us gain a deeper insight into an important historical period. important,” he said.
This expert believes that historical data sources are still very limited in describing the daily lives of people at that time. Therefore, “the synthesis of archaeological findings is particularly impressive, as the remains will help archaeologists understand what the diet of sailors at that time was like.”
