| Abstract: |
Five coconuts were recovered during excavation at the wreck site of the Rooswijk, an eighteenth-century ship of the Dutch East India Company (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, ‘VOC’), wrecked on the Goodwin Sands off the coast of Kent, South East England, in January AD 1740. The highly mobile sea-bed environment has resulted in scattered ship debris across the area of the site. Dating of the coconuts was required to establish if they were part of the cargo of the Rooswijk, in which case they will date from shortly before AD 1740 and potentially hail from Indonesia. If they are not associated with the Rooswijk they must be related to a different, more recent historic wreck or cargo loss, more likely to have been returning from the Caribbean. Alternatively, the coconuts could be modern. Five coconuts were recovered during excavation at the wreck site of the Rooswijk, an eighteenth-century ship of the Dutch East India Company (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, ‘VOC’), wrecked on the Goodwin Sands off the coast of Kent, South East England, in January AD 1740. The highly mobile sea-bed environment has resulted in scattered ship debris across the area of the site. Dating of the coconuts was required to establish if they were part of the cargo of the Rooswijk, in which case they will date from shortly before AD 1740 and potentially hail from Indonesia. If they are not associated with the Rooswijk they must be related to a different, more recent historic wreck or cargo loss, more likely to have been returning from the Caribbean. Alternatively, the coconuts could be modern. |
