The Baltic Sea has long been one of the world’s busiest seas, traveled by Vikings and cruise ships alike. Thousands of wrecks, and other remains, lie on its seabed to this day. This constitutes a unique underwater cultural heritage that continues to fascinate researchers and diving maritime archaeologists.

What can scientists teach us about the regal ship Vasa from the 17th century and what role did women play in shipbuilding?

New research shows that one of Vasa’s crew members was a woman. For the past few years, scientists have thought that one of the skeletons found on board the Vasa ship in 1961, whom they designated G, might be a woman, but they weren’t able to confirm their suspicions. Then, just a couple of weeks ago, a collaboration between the Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology at Uppsala University in Sweden and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory in Delaware confirmed the result. The Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory specializes in human remains DNA testing from deceased military personnel and has established a new testing method for the analysis of many different genetic variants, which was used to confirm that G was a woman.

Join us on May 15 at House of Sweden to hear Sophie Nyman, Director of Design and Content at the Swedish National Maritime and Transport Museums, share new discoveries on the bottom of the Baltic Sea and reflect on current opportunities and challenges at the Swedish National Maritime and Transport Museums.

‍Doors open: 6:30 pm‍

Talk starts: 7:00 pm

Sophie Nyman is a trained cultural heritage specialist and coach who has worked in leading positions in the museum business for over 25 years, including at the Swedish National Heritage Board and the Swedish History Museum. Photo: Vasa/Anneli Karlsson.

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