Who Are You? An Archaeological Examination of the Human Remains Associated with Vasa

Abstract

When the Swedish warship Vasa sank in 1628, approximately 30 lives were lost. The ship was raised and fully excavated in the 1950s and 1960s, and through the course of the excavation, over 1,500 human bones were recorded and cataloged. These bones are currently believed to represent 15 individuals. Eleven of these individuals were found inside the ship, while the remaining four were found outside during salvage excavations after the ship was raised. The human remains have been the subject of osteological, odontological, and DNA analyses, though none of these studies have taken into account their archaeological context. This thesis represents the first complete archaeological analysis of the human remains by examining find locations and the site formation processes affecting distribution. This study aims to provide an identification for each individual based on their location on the ship, their personal possessions, and their biological profile. By linking the methodologies of archaeology and osteology, this thesis provides an interpretation of what the men and women aboard Vasa were doing when the ship sank in order to better understand who these people were and why they died in the sinking.