Henry VIII's favorite warship, the Mary Rose, sank in battle in 1545. Archaeologists successfully raised the ship in 1982, along with thousands of articles and the remains of 179 crew members—all remarkably well preserved thanks to the anaerobic conditions of the shipwreck created by the layers of soft sediment that accumulated over the wreckage.
A new analysis of some of the recovered bones reveals that whether someone is right- or left-handed could affect how their collarbone chemistry changes as they age, according to a new paper published in the journal PLoS ONE. This has implications for our understanding not just of aging, but of bone conditions like fracture risk and osteoarthritis.
As previously reported, the earliest-known reference to the Mary Rose appears in a January 29, 1510, letter ordering the construction of two new ships for the young king: the Mary Rose and her sister ship, dubbed the Peter Pomegranate. Once the newly built ship had launched, Henry VIII wasted no time defying his advisers and declaring war on France in 1512. The Mary Rose served the monarch well through that conflict, as well as during a second war with the French that ran roughly from 1522 through 1525, after which it underwent a substantial overhaul.
Alas, the ship's luck ran out during yet another outbreak of war with France. During the Battle of the Solent, French ships tried to land troops on English soil in the straits just north of the Isle of Wight. On July 19, 1545, contemporary accounts report that the Mary Rose suddenly heeled over to the starboard side—perhaps due to a sudden shift in the wind—and the crew couldn't correct the imbalance. Because the gunports were open, water rushed in and sank the Mary Rose. The exact cause of the sinking is still a matter of heated debate, but it was likely a convergence of factors, including overloading, crew error, and that sudden gust of wind.
Conservationists have worked tirelessly to preserve the ship's remains ever since it was raised from its watery resting place. For many years after it was recovered, the hull was housed in dry dock as conservationists worked to preserve the structure. That required keeping the entire thing saturated with water initially. Later, they applied a polyethylene glycol solution to add mechanical stability. The ship's remains are now displayed in the official Mary Rose Museum, built right over the original dry dock in Portsmouth.
In 2020, a high-energy X-ray analysis of chain-mail links salvaged from the wreckage by a team of British scientists revealed that the material composition of the armor is similar to modern brass alloys. There were also traces of lead and gold whose origin has not been decisively determined. Many of those traces possibly came later; during World War II, the Portsmouth Dockyard was the target of heavy bombing, which deposited lead, mercury, and cadmium, for instance, into the Solent waters.
In 2021, conservators turned their attention to analyzing the wood hull of the Mary Rose. There is evidence from prior studies of metal sulfides from anaerobic bacteria and corroded iron fixtures. Under atmospheric conditions, those sulfides can oxidize into acids as well, further adding to the hull's deterioration. The 2021 analysis revealed that the wood hull is now riddled with zinc sulfide nanoparticles. In addition, the study found significant polymer deposits—evidence that the polyethylene glycol solution applied to the hull for preservation purposes is now starting to break down and form acids, which also threaten the continued mechanical integrity of the hull.
For this latest analysis, researchers at Lancaster University joined forces with the Mary Rose Museum to examine the bones of some of the human remains using a non-invasive technique called Raman spectroscopy, in which a laser is used to excite molecules in a given sample. The changes in vibration give rise to a distinct biochemical fingerprint, enabling scientists to identify specific organic and inorganic substances. Raman spectroscopy has previously been used to examine the lower leg bones of some of the Mary Rose crew members for evidence of bone disease.
Dem collarbones
Most of the recovered human remains were jumbled up, but over the years, preservationists have partially reconstructed some 98 individuals, all men between 10 and 40 years of age. The new study focused on 12 clavicle (collar) bones, which links the upper limb to the torso and is one of the most commonly fractured bones. Per the authors, it's one of the first bones to start ossifying in utero, but the last to fully fuse, usually between 22 and 25 years old.
That was a boon for determining the age of the Mary Rose crew members, but the authors thought differences in bone mineral and protein chemistry could also shed light on bone changes related not just to aging, but also to lifestyle or disease, and even whether a crewman was right- or left-handed had an impact on those changes. They specifically looked at changes in phosphate, carbonate, and amine (the foundation of collagen), all major components of bone.
The results: mineral content of the bones of all 12 men increased with age, while the protein content decreased. Those changes were more significant in right clavicles rather than left ones, an intriguing result suggesting a preference for right-handed crew members. The authors note that this might be because, at the time, being left-handed was often associated with witchcraft. Perhaps those right-handed crew members put more stress on their right side while performing their duties, and this, in turn, asymmetrically altered their clavicle chemistry.
“Having grown up fascinated by the Mary Rose, it has been amazing to have the opportunity to work with these remains," said co-author Sheona Shankland of Lancaster University. "The preservation of the bones and the non-destructive nature of the technique allows us to learn more about the lives of these sailors, but also furthers our understanding of the human skeleton, relevant to the modern world.”
PLoS ONE, 2024. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0311717 (About DOIs).
