Mary Rose sailors’ ate a diet of salt beef and biscuits
June 5th, 2012 - 9:09 pm ICT by Aishwarya BhattLondon, June 5 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Various tests on the bones of sailors aboard the Mary Rose, Henry VIII’s flagship, have shown that their diet consisted of salt beef and sea biscuits.
The forensic studies used bones from 80 sailors who were buried in Royal Naval hospital cemeteries. After analysing the bones, experts have been able to ascertain what the 17th and 18th century sailors used to eat. During the late 18th century, 70,000 seamen and marines were members of the Royal Navy.
The researchers have determined that the Mary Rose sailors used to live off salt beef and sea biscuits. Oxford University’s Mark Pollard claimed that an isotopic study of the collagen existent in the bones studied has enabled the university’s researchers to discover new aspects of the life and diet of the members of the Nelson’s navy. The Mary Rose sunk in 1545.
Feeding such a high number of individuals proved to be an extremely difficult task, which required strictly controlled diets. Other food products that integrated the sailors’s diet included flour, oatmeal, and cheese.
The research findings are consistent with contemporary documentary records contained in a number of manifests and logs of the navy’s captain.
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Tags: 18th century, beef and biscuits, collagen, documentary records, flagship, food products, forensic studies, henry viii, manifests, mark pollard, oatmeal, oxford university, research findings, royal naval hospital, royal navy, sailors, salt beef, sea biscuits, seamen, various tests