Hidden for centuries beneath the ocean’s surface, the secrets of a sunken shipwreck have provided archaeologists with an unparalleled window into the past. One of the most famous examples of this is the Mary Rose, a warship of King Henry VIII that sank in the Solent, off the coast of England, in 1545. For over 400 years, the ship and its contents were a forgotten time capsule.

The discovery of the Mary Rose in 1971 and its subsequent raising in 1982 was a monumental feat of marine archaeology. The ship had settled into the soft mud of the seabed, which preserved the lower half of the hull and thousands of artifacts in a near-perfect state. The wreck was not just a naval vessel; it was a snapshot of Tudor life.

The secrets it revealed were not just about warfare, but about the daily lives of the 400-man crew. Archaeologists found everything from the personal belongings of the sailors—including leather shoes, wooden bowls, and musical instruments—to the surgical tools of the ship’s barber-surgeon. The skeletons of the crew, each telling a story of their occupation and diet, have provided historians with an intimate glimpse into Tudor England that no written record could ever offer. The Mary Rose is considered one of the most important archaeological discoveries of all time.