Lisbon Sep 23 (IANS) Archeologists have found a centuries-old shipwreck off Portugal s coast near Lisbon authorities said.
Aboard the ship thought to have sunk between 1575 and 1625 divers found spices including pepper; Chinese ceramics from the period; and cowries a type of shell used as currency for the slave trade in some parts of Africa at the time CNN quoted the authorities as saying on SATURDAY.
The project s science director Jorge Freire called it the "discovery of the decade".
"From a conservation perspective both of the assets as of the ship itself this discovery is of great patrimonial value " he said.
Also found were some of the ship s bronze cannons engraved with the Portuguese coat of arms and the armillary sphere that are still featured in the Portuguese flag.
Judging by what s been found so far the ship was probably coming into Lisbon from India Freire said.
the wreck was discovered on September 3 as part of an underwater investigation project spearheaded by Cascais a city near Lisbon with help from Nova University of Lisbon the Portuguese government and navy.
The ship was found just 40 feet below the surface.

--IANS ksk