The globalization of naval provisioning: ancient DNA and stable isotope analyses of stored cod from the wreck of the Mary Rose, AD 1545

Abstract

A comparison of ancient DNA (single-nucleotide polymorphisms) and carbon and nitrogen stable isotope evidence suggests that stored cod provisions recovered from the wreck of the Tudor warship Mary Rose, which sank in the Solent, southern England, in 1545, had been caught in northern and transatlantic waters such as the northern North Sea and the fishing grounds of Iceland and Newfoundland. This discovery, underpinned by control data from archaeological samples of cod bones from potential source regions, illuminates the role of naval provisioning in the early development of extensive sea fisheries, with their long-term economic and ecological impacts.

Four Hundred and Fifty-Year-Old Skeletal Remains of Atlantic Cod (<i>Gadus morhua</i>) Found on Multiyear Ice in High Arctic Canada

“…This date is very close to the date of the wreck of the warship Mary Rose in 1545 CE, on which Atlantic cod bones were found (Hutchinson et al, 2015). Atlantic cod fisheries expanded significantly in European waters during the years when the bones were deposited on the ice, even back to the 13th century .…”

“…Both Peter and Steve thought that the colour and condition of the bones was consistent with bones from old archaeological sites. The bones also closely matched Atlantic cod bones salvaged from the Mary Rose, a warship from the English navy of King Henry VIII that foundered off the south coast of England in 1545 during a battle with a French invasion fleet (Hutchinson et al, 2015).…”

“…The isotope analyses can provide insights into the geographic origin of the bones, as well as ecological information. Similar analyses were conducted on the Atlantic cod bones found stored in the wreck of the Mary Rose (Hutchinson et al, 2015).…”

Ancient DNA reveals the Arctic origin of Viking Age cod from Haithabu, Germany

“…Chromosomal inversions are expected to play a major role in ecological adaptation (62,63). In cod, these regions contribute to elevated genomic diversification between modern populations and ecotypes-despite low overall levels of divergence (25,(31)(32)(33)(34)64)-and they have been suspected to be under selection (22,28,29). The high genomic divergence of these alleles, in combination with their wide geographic distribution, suggests that these have been maintained as a polymorphism for hundreds of thousands, if not millions of years (32,33).…”

“…In particular, the genome-wide analysis of 1,000s or more single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) allows the determination of an individual's geographic origin with accuracy and precision, even when limited genetic differentiation exists among regions (20)(21)(22). Since low levels of genetic differentiation are typical for marine species with high dispersal capabilities like Atlantic cod (23,24), such genome-wide approaches are essential to increase the assignment power of modern (22) and ancient samples of these species (25). So far, however, aDNA studies using genome-wide approaches are lacking for marine fishes.…”