Woman who died in deadly Vasa warship's wreck 400 years ago reconstructed in lifelike detail

By Laura Geggel published 5 days ago

At first, researchers thought a 17th-century shipwreck skeleton was male. But a new reconstruction reveals her as female, based on results from a genetic analysis done earlier this year.



The new reconstruction shows Gertrude wearing a gray jacket and red hat, as pieces of these items were found by her skeleton on the Vasa shipwreck in Sweden. (Image credit: Oscar Nilsson)


When researchers raised the Vasa — a 17th-century Swedish warship that sank in Stockholm harbor on its maiden voyage — in the 1960s, they recovered nearly 20 skeletons. Scientists determined that one of those skeletons, dubbed G, was a male they called Gustav.

Earlier this year, a genetic analysis determined that G wasn't male but female. Now, a new reconstruction of G, whose new nickname is Gertrude, reveals her likeness before the deadly 1628 shipwreck.

According to the new genetic analysis, "she was about 25-30 years of age when she died, her eyes were blue, her hair blonde and her skin pale," Oscar Nilsson, a Sweden-based forensic artist who created the reconstruction, told Live Science in an email.



Forensic artist Oscar Nilsson layered plasticine clay on a 3D vinyl printed skull to create Gertrude's reconstruction. (Image credit: Oscar Nilsson)

Nilsson had crafted a reconstruction of Gustav in 2006 and was surprised when he learned that G was female, but he was glad he could help correct the record with a new reconstruction for the Vasa Museum in Stockholm.

G's sex suggests that she was married, he noted. "From written sources we know that only married women, and married to a man on board the ship, were allowed on board this maiden voyage."

More:
https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/woman-who-died-in-deadly-vasa-warships-wreck-400-years-ago-reconstructed-in-lifelike-detail