Archaeology Magazine - May/June 2018 - 37

a particular problem for archaeologists because dendrochronology is impossible since the wood's growth rings are not
generated in predictable patterns as they are in most other
trees. Even if boxwood tree ring dating were methodologically
sound, the wood from the wreck is unfailingly attacked by
worms almost the moment it comes out of the sand, creating
many small holes that could thwart analysis.

urgzand noord 17 is notable both for the objects
recovered from the wreck and for those that are absent
from what might be expected to be part of the luggage
of any particular passenger. One missing class of artifacts
stands out because the type of woman who would have
owned the damask and brocade silk gown that was
rescued from the seafloor-a garment suitable
as everyday dress for a lady of noble standing-would have traveled with many
undershirts. Undershirts are decidedly
lacking among the artifacts.
Wealthy Europeans of the time
changed their undershirts regularly as a way to stay clean. Ippolito d'Este, a sixteenth-century
Roman Catholic cardinal and son
of Lucrezia Borgia, is known to
have changed his shirt every day,
even while traveling. People of
lower status would have changed
less frequently because of the cost of
shirts and laundering, but regularly swapping underclothes was essential at the time
because bathing, or even spot-bathing, was not
widely practiced. Perhaps the cotton or linen undergarments
on the ship simply did not survive being submerged. It is also
possible that the silk and damask clothes recovered from the
wreck were being transported for sale or delivery.
Conversely, what did survive nearly 400 years in the sand
was one pair of silk stockings knitted with incredibly finegauge needles and displaying a palmette motif. The popularity of stockings grew in the sixteenth century, but they were
very rare and difficult to obtain even among nobility such as
the grand ducal Medici family. In 1546, Prince Francesco I
de' Medici's tutor noted that the boy had only two pairs of
badly worn stockings and asked that another pair be sent
from Florence. In the mid-sixteenth century, Cardinal Ercole
Gonzaga received five pairs of silk stockings, a princely haul
for the time, from a man who operated as his buying agent. In
the early modern period stockings were not an afterthought,
but an essential, precious, and decorative element of elite
dress, noted even in descriptions of kings' clothing. By the
seventeenth century, stockings were easier to obtain and even
gifts of 14 pairs seemed shabby, while 25 pairs were shipped
to Florence in one bundle, according to letters in the Medici
Grand Ducal Archive. By the time the Texel ship sank, the
palmette motif stockings would have been luxury goods, but
not as rare as they would have been in previous generations.

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was found, the Burgzand Noord 17
wreck was identified as an English royal ship lost in
1642, a tale the world media ran with. Two historians
familiar with the movements of Queen Henrietta Maria of
France (1609-1669), the wife of King Charles I of England,
suggested that the ship's rich cargo indicated that it may have
been a baggage ship that sank during an unsuccessful mission
to secretly sell the crown jewels during the English Civil War.
The first garment from the wreck that was revealed to the
public, a silk gown, was linked to Jean Kerr, the Countess of
Roxburghe and a lady-in-waiting to the queen. A letter written by Queen Henrietta Maria's sister-in-law about the loss
of 12 baggage ships appeared to link the Texel wreck with
the English crown. The reality is that many more
tthan
h 12 ships sank off the coast
of the Netherlands in the sevo
eenteenth century-there were
likely
li
i
hundreds-and there is
hortly after it

T
This
intricately decorated metal object
was first thought to be a pomander, or
w
fragrance ball used to mask foul odors,
fr
but is most likely a button.
b

no evidence to support the idea that
n
th
the
h Burgzand Noord 17 wreck is tied
tto this historical event, especially given
that Texel is more than 100 miles from
th
Hellevoetsluis, where the royal ship is said
H
tto have sunk.
Nevertheless, new information emerges
regularly from the teams working on the artifacts. And still other preliminary interpretations are
now beginning to be overturned. For example, it wouldn't
be terribly surprising to find a lice comb among the objects
from the Texel wreck. Lice, fleas, and bedbugs were common afflictions of the time, most associated with those of
lower status, though of course the pests didn't inquire about
rank before crawling on. Considering that lice can spread
typhus, the infestations weren't merely inconvenient, but
also dangerous. Yet, upon further investigation, Martin Veen,
collection manager of the wreck's artifacts and administrator of the North Holland archaeology depot, thinks that the
item originally identified as a lice comb is in fact a regular
seventeenth-century comb. And an object identified initially
as a pomander-a metal ball used for holding sweet-smelling
herbs and flowers to cover bad odors-is now thought to be
a button from one of the garments. Work on the 1,000-plus
artifacts already recovered is under way, and a potential trove
of untouched objects from the wreck still lie buried and covered by the sea. "The complete project will likely take some
years to finish," says van Bommel. At least for now, the ship
sits on the seafloor protected by a net and sand while scholars
debate the next step. n
Tracy E. Robey is a journalist living in New York City and assistant
director of the Renaissance Society of America.
37

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Archaeology Magazine - May/June 2018