Heavily damaged shipwreck near the coast of Kuinre:Definite research of a shipwreck on lot R 4 in Northeastern Flevoland

In the autumn of 2004 a large quantity of wooden material was brough to the surface due to ploughing. This was located in lot R4 in the Noordoostpolder (province of Flevoland). After inspection the construction elements were identified as part of a ship. In order to prevent it from being destroyed by further ploughing, it was decided to excavate the ship. The excavation was conducted in 2009. This revealed that the wreck was also damaged by drainage pipes which were laid down in the 1950s and 1970s.During the excavation it became clear that the ship was lying upright, somewhat tilted to the portside. Multiple pits, caused by the movement of tidal water, surrounded the ship. Artefacts from the eleventh to the eighteenth century were found in the surroundings. Due to disturbance of the soil, these artefacts were combined with the ship’s artefactual inventory. Only part of the carvel-built bottom of the ship was found intact whereas the side strakes of the ship were almost completely missing. In spite of that, it is known that the sides of the ship were clinker-built due to the shape of a couple of the frames. Based on dendrochronological samples the felling date of the ship’s timber was AD 1587 or shortly thereafter. The dating of a couple of artefacts from the inventory of the ship indicates a post quem date associated with the sinking of the ship after AD 1593. The question whether the ship sank on the open sea or was washed ashore near Kuinre cannot be answered with certainty. Involvement of the ship in the Eighty Years of War and the skirmishes near Kuinre cannot be proven. The canons and kruitkannetjes that were found on lot R 3 and 4 do not seem to have been part of the ship’s equipment