One of King Henry VIII's favorite warships was the Mary Rose, which served as one of the flagships of the English Navy for over 30 years, until she sank in a battle against the French in 1545. She made headlines again in 1982 when she was successfully raised from the bottom of the straits where she had lain for centuries, along with thousands of artifacts that have been a boon to maritime archaeologists ever since.
Conservationists have worked tirelessly to preserve the ship's remains and its many artifacts. And now high-energy X-ray analysis of chain mail links salvaged from the wreckage by a team of British scientists has revealed that the material composition of the armor is similar to modern brass alloys, according to a recent paper published in the Journal of Synchrotron Radiation. There were also traces of lead and gold, whose origin has yet to be decisively determined.
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