A pair of copper vessels from the Schiedam wreck of 1684, although warped and eroded, are clearly ‘nested’ or stored one inside the other. These may be ship’s measures for gun powder, or food (information at Shipwreck Treasure Museum, Charlestown). They could have been stored this way for easy selection of differently sized measures and/or efficient use of space.
Other types of metal artefacts found on the wreck, stowed rather like this, were clearly not for use on board, though. Hoops for fixing to wooden barrels, for example, were more roughly nested together.
3D scanned by Tom Goskar (@tomgoskar) as part of the Wreck and Rescue at Gunwalloe project commissioned by Cornwall Archaeological Unit (CAU) and funded by Historic England to mark the 50th anniversary of the Protection of Wrecks Act, 1973.
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