The Mary Rose was a British warship under King Henry VIII. It sank in 1545 after serving for 33 years. It was salvaged in 1982, when conservation efforts began. (Image Credit: Mary Rose Trust, via Wikimedia Commons)

The Mary Rose was a British warship under King Henry VIII. It sank in 1545 after serving for 33 years. It was salvaged in 1982, when conservation efforts began. (Image Credit: Mary Rose Trust, via Wikimedia Commons)

Looking at old cod found in the hold of the Tudor warship the Mary Rose is  providing a glimpse of  fisheries history. A DNA analysis of the stored cod revealed it was caught in near Iceland and Newfoundland and  is “illuminating the role of naval provisioning in the early development of extensive sea fisheries, with their long-term economic and ecological impacts” according to the researchers.

Original research paper published in Royal Society Open Science on September 8, 2015.

Names and affiliations of selected author

Dr James Barrett, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom