By Kirsten Ripper & Euronews with BGfU
Off Lindau in Lake Constance, underwater archaeologists have discovered wooden parts of a shipwreck that appear to be much older than initially assumed.
"The tip came from a recreational diver who knows the area well. He had already suspected it might be a wreck," reports archaeological research diver Prof. Dr Tobias Pflederer when asked by Euronews. In his main job he is a cardiologist in Kaufbeuren and a professor at the University of Erlangen, but he is also honorary president of the Bavarian Society for Underwater Archaeology (BGfU).
"The really exciting thing was that we were able to identify the wooden remains as a wreck. That was by no means clear at the outset. They could have been other wooden remains. But once several frames and parts of the hull were protruding from the lakebed surface, the interpretation was quickly obvious," explains Pflederer.
A frame is a load-bearing structural element of a boat, a ship or an aircraft. Connected frames form the ship’s hull, like ribs. The BGfU’s underwater archaeologists had previously found several, much heavier dugout boats in Lake Constance and also in Lake Chiemsee, some of which are on display at the Deutsches Museum in Munich.
