The stormy weather of the past few days had a surprise for archaeologists. On the Baltic Sea island of Rügen an old wreck was uncovered. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's State Office for Culture and Historic Preservation said it was at the wreck stranded near Glowe to a merchant ship from the 18th century. It was probably built in the Netherlands. This was indicated by the design features of the ship, said State Archaeologist Detlef Jantzen.

Experts from the State Office had examined the wreck on Sunday and taken wood samples for exact age determination and carried out a survey. "The parts found show that the ship is a large, flat-bottomed commercial vehicle," said Jantzen. Free-rinsed were large parts of the bottom shell and a piece of the keel. Archaeologists discovered it already at the end of the nineties, but so far it was mostly under sand on the seabed.

What the ship could have transported and why it was on the move is not yet known. According to the chronicles of Glowe also nothing is known about a shipwreck off the coast in historical time, reports the NDR. But before Rügen once ran busy trade routes. According to estimates, there are about 200 wrecks.

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Coins of Harald Bluetooth: You have found a treasure

Storms in January had raged heavily on the coast of Ruegen. The beach off Glowe in the north of the island has lost up to a meter in height, said the chairman of the local tourist board, Dieter Thomas. The wreck had also been cleared, which is now attracted by hikers as an attraction.

The State Office for Culture and Heritage warned against taking wreckage items as souvenirs. It is not allowed to remove, damage or destroy the beach-washed parts of the wreck, Jantzen said. That regulate the monument protection law. But the wreck is not secure so far.

It is unclear which authority is responsible for the find at all. The jurisdiction of the district extends only to the mid-water line, said the preservation of the circle, Markus Sommer-Scheffler.

It was not until April that a treasure had been recovered on a field in Rügen, which had caused a sensation. A 13-year-old student and roofer, who belonged to a group of honorary conservationists, had found silver pieces during a metal detector search. Part of the found coins was due to the legendary Danish king Harald Bluetooth (910-987).