(UTV|COLOMBO) – A 400-year-old shipwreck has been found off Lisbon in what has been described as a “significant” archaeological discovery.
The ship was unearthed 12 metres below the water during a dredging project at the mouth of the River Tagus on Portugal’s Atlantic coast.
Experts say it was wrecked between 1575 and 1625 and, before then, it is thought to have been involved in the lucrative spice trade between Portugal and India.
The discovery site is littered with bronze artillery, pepper corns and cowry shells, according to the municipal council of Cascais, a resort city about 20 miles west of the Portuguese capital.
Shells were used as legal tender in some parts of the world until the mid-19th century.
