Ships carrying enslaved people wrecked amid revolts in 1700s. Now they're found
Centuries after Danish ships carrying enslaved people from West Africa disappeared in the Caribbean, the charred and destroyed remains have been identified for the first time.
In 2023, researchers and archaeologists from the National Museum of Denmark and the Viking Ship Museum put on their dive gear and visited two known shipwreck sites off Cahuita National Park in Costa Rica, according to an April 27 news release from the National Museum published in Ritzaus Bureau.
'For many years, however, they were thought to be pirate ships,' researchers said. 'But when American marine archaeologists in 2015 found yellow bricks in one of the wrecks, new questions emerged about the history of the ships.'
Hoping to find answers, the archaeologists brought samples of the bricks and wood to the surface to determine where it originated, according to the release.
The researchers used dendrochronology, or the study of tree rings, to determine the wood for one wreck came from the western region of the Baltic Sea, which included a region of Germany and Denmark, according to the release.
Dating of the wood showed it was cut down between 1690 and 1695, researchers said, and it was 'charred and sooty.'
When they analyzed the bricks, they found the brick matched Flensburg bricks produced in Denmark and the Danish colonies, and the clay used to make them was collected in Denmark, researchers said. The bricks were dated to the 18th century.
Among the wreckage, the divers also found Dutch-produced pipes with sizes and patterns suggesting they were made at the beginning of the 18th century, according to the release.
At this point, there was no doubt where the ships originated: Denmark.
But, how did they make their way to the Costa Rican coast? And how had their journeys come to such violent ends?
'According to historical sources, the two Danish slave ships Fridericus Quartus and Christianus Quintus were shipwrecked off the coast of Central America in 1710,' researchers said. 'Fridericus Quartus was set ablaze, while Christianus Quintus had its anchor rope cut, following which the ship was wrecked in the surf. Until now, it has not been clear exactly where the ships were lost.'
The ships are considered part of darkest chapters of Danish history, according to an April 28 Facebook post from the Viking Ship Museum.
The two ships were blown hundreds of miles off course as they traveled across the Atlantic from West Africa as part of the trade of enslaved people, according to the museum.
In the spring of 1710, the ships finally saw land, but the environment on board was dangerously tense, the museum said.
The crew and 600-700 enslaved people had resorted to eating only turtles caught off the ship by the end of the journey, and after the surviving West Africans were dropped on shore, there was a mutiny, according to the museum.
The anchors of one ship were cut, allowing it to crash into the coral reef and sink, and the second ship was set ablaze, eventually also reaching the seafloor.
Some members of the crew had boarded English vessels, eventually making their way back to Denmark and writing about their previous voyage, but none of the sailors wrote where the ships met their end, the museum said.
A video about the expedition was shared by the National Museum of Denmark on April 28.
Cahuita National Park is on the southeastern coast of Costa Rica along the Caribbean Sea.
Facebook Translate was used to translate the post from the Viking Ship Museum.
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About NVIDIA NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) is the world leader in accelerated computing. For further information, contact:Janette CiborowskiEnterprise CommunicationsNVIDIA Corporation+1-734-330-8817jciborowski@ Certain statements in this press release including, but not limited to, statements as to: working with Novo Nordisk, NVIDIA advancing critical R&D applications with fundamental tools that can harness the full potential of generative and agentic AI to improve pharmaceutical development; the benefits, impact, performance, and availability of NVIDIA's products, services, and technologies; expectations with respect to NVIDIA's third party arrangements, including with its collaborators and partners; expectations with respect to technology developments; and other statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which are subject to the 'safe harbor' created by those sections based on management's beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to management and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause results to be materially different than expectations. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include: global economic and political conditions; NVIDIA's reliance on third parties to manufacture, assemble, package and test NVIDIA's products; the impact of technological development and competition; development of new products and technologies or enhancements to NVIDIA's existing product and technologies; market acceptance of NVIDIA's products or NVIDIA's partners' products; design, manufacturing or software defects; changes in consumer preferences or demands; changes in industry standards and interfaces; unexpected loss of performance of NVIDIA's products or technologies when integrated into systems; and changes in applicable laws and regulations, as well as other factors detailed from time to time in the most recent reports NVIDIA files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, including, but not limited to, its annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. Copies of reports filed with the SEC are posted on the company's website and are available from NVIDIA without charge. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and speak only as of the date hereof, and, except as required by law, NVIDIA disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances. © 2025 NVIDIA Corporation. All rights reserved. NVIDIA, the NVIDIA logo, NVIDIA BioNeMo, NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD, NVIDIA NeMo, NVIDIA NIM and NVIDIA Omniverse are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. Other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated. Features, pricing, availability and specifications are subject to change without notice. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at
