Archaeologists reconstruct diet of Nelson's navy with new chemical analysis of excavated bones
Friday, March 23, 2012 - 13:30
in Paleontology & Archaeology
Salt beef, sea biscuits and the occasional weevil; the food endured by sailors during the Napoleonic wars is seldom imagined to be appealing. Now a new chemical analysis technique has allowed archaeologists to find out just how dour the diet of Georgian sailors really was. The team’s findings also reveal how little had changed for sailors in the 200 years between the Elizabethan and Georgian eras.