More than five centuries ago, a fish in a barrel sank to a watery grave at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. The unfortunate aquatic creature was a sturgeon brought aboard Gribshunden, the 115-foot flagship of King Hans of Denmark, and it was as long as a person is tall. Archaeologists retrieved the 524-year-old animal during underwater excavations in August 2019, along with a number of other remarkable items: coins featuring the face of King Hans, an alderwood tankard cut from a single piece of wood, remnants of mail armor,…
