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    Centuries-Old Danish Slave Ships Identified Off Costa Rica's Caribbean Coast
    May 10, 2025
    Centuries-Old Danish Slave Ships Identified Off Costa Rica's Caribbean Coast
    May 10, 2025 icon name Back

    Marine archaeologists have confirmed that two long-mysterious shipwrecks off Costa Rica’s southern Caribbean coastline are, in fact, Danish slave ships lost centuries ago. This discovery not only offers valuable insight into a little-known chapter of transatlantic history but also reconnects the local Afro-Caribbean community with its ancestral past.

    The remains lie near Cahuita National Park, where for generations they were believed to be pirate ships—damaged and scattered as though sunk during a skirmish at sea. This local lore originated with fishermen who settled the area in 1826 and speculated the vessels met a violent end.

    But that theory began to unravel in 2015 when American marine archaeologists investigating the site made a key discovery: yellow bricks, unusual in design and origin, embedded within one of the wrecks. These bricks were traced to Flensburg, a town in present-day Germany that, during the 18th and 19th centuries, supplied building materials exclusively for Danish colonial use. Their unique composition and manufacturing style were uncommon elsewhere in Europe.

    Further forensic analysis brought even more clarity. Tree-ring dating of oak wood retrieved from one wreck pinpointed the timber’s origin to the western Baltic Sea—a region that includes Denmark, southern Sweden, and northeastern Germany. The tree itself had been felled sometime between 1690 and 1695.

    The evidence deepened when clay bricks found aboard matched both the size and composition of bricks crafted in southern Denmark, particularly in areas renowned for 18th-century brick production. In addition, the clay tobacco pipes recovered from the wreck shared consistent features with those produced in Denmark shortly before the ships are believed to have sunk around 1710.

    These findings not only rewrite local history but also serve as a rare window into Denmark's involvement in the slave trade, revealing how far the nation’s maritime activities extended into Central America. For descendants of enslaved people in the region, the confirmed identities of the wrecks offer long-sought historical context and a direct connection to their heritage.

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