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A shipwreck discovered during a hunting for dumped wartime ammunition in Norway ’s Lake Mjøsa has been identify as a local " føringsbåt " from up to 700 years ago . But sorry atmospheric condition has forbid researchers from finding out more .
The wreck , which lies at a depth of around 1,300 feet ( 400 meters ) , wasfound in 2022by an autonomous underwater fomite ( AUV ) map the lake for Norway ’s war machine .
The wreck was found in 2022 in deep water in Norway’s Lake Mjøsa, but researchers were unable to revisit the wreck until October 2024.
The breakthrough caught the attention of researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology ( NTNU ) base in the metropolis of Trondheim . But they were not able to revisit the wreck until last month .
NTNU maritime archaeologistØyvind Ødegårdtold Live Science that he and his confrere research the shipwreck for about an time of day using a remotely operated underwater vehicle ( ROV ) tether to a research boat on the surface . But expert take and encroaching bad atmospheric condition prevented the researcher from using the subaqueous drone to take wood samples forradiocarbon date , so the wreck ’s precise geezerhood will remain obscure until they can return there next springtime .
Several visible feature of the wreck , however , indicate the vessel was built between 1300 and 1700 , Ødegård said .
The researchers now think the vessel was a local boat used for passengers and cargo. Distinctive features suggest it was built after 1300 but before 1700.(Image credit: NTNU)
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Norwegian lake
Lake Mjøsa is the largest lake in Norway and lies about 60 Roman mile ( 100 kilometer ) north of Oslo . It covers more than 140 square Admiralty mile ( 360 square km ) , but only a few straight mile of the lake bottom have been mapped . It was a vital trade route between the many favourable community along its shores from at least the 8th hundred .
Ødegård said the researchers now think the mysterious vas was a " føringsbåt " used to carry lading and passengers . Such boats were widely used on Norwegian lake , but their savourless - bottomed building made them undesirable for the opened ocean .
The in style exploration showed this particular føringsbåt was built with an upright can , a feature film introduced in Norway after about 1300 ; earlierVikingships were the same on both ends . And there are sign that it may have had a central rudder at the stern for steering , whereas Viking ships used a specialized steering oar on one side , Ødegård said .
Such boats were used for transport on Norway’s many lakes from at least the eighth century onward, but they were flat-bottomed and unsuitable for coastal waters.(Image credit: NTNU)
The boat was also built with wooden planks overlie in a " clinker " style . This traditional Scandinavian boatbuilding method acting was superseded by the flush planks of the " carvel " style , an invention from the Mediterranean .
Telltale planks
The 33 - foot - long ( 10 m ) wreck in Lake Mjøsa is covered with sediment , which Ødegård thinks may have been interpenetrate by the sonar equipment that locate the wreck in 2022 . The wooden planks in the hull that can be watch are relatively wide — a sign they were cut with an ax , rather than sawed at a shipyard .
" That is an indication that this wreck is older , " Ødegård said .
The 2022 breakthrough was made with an AUV operated by the Norse military , but the latest explorations used an ROV operated by the university spin - off company Blueye .
Researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) returned to the wreck site in October and explored it with a remotely-operated underwater vehicle (ROV).
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The shipwreck now lies on the bottom of Lake Mjøsa in deep and serene water supply , but the lake surface in that arena has potent currents , Ødegård said .
In improver to forbid the researchers from reaching the wreck on several occasions , the currents may have do the føringsbåt to founding father .
" It ’s not the calm situation , " he say . " That leads us to guess that someone had an stroke while spoil the lake . "
