Scientists from the University of Haifa in Israel have been studying an ancient shipwreck off the Mediterranean coast of Israel. The Ma‘agan Mikhael B shipwreck has provided a rich haul of artifacts to help them piece together its story. But that is not all. The well-preserved remains of the ship also contain an unusual source of information. The skeletons of rats that once infested the ship are proving to be very useful in finding out more about life aboard the ship before it ran aground, cutting short its career.
According to the Leon Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies website, the Ma’agan Mikhael B is a 25-meter (82 feet)-long merchant ship that sank 70 m (229 feet) off the Mediterranean coast of Israel in the seventh-eighth centuries AD. It is sunk in water at a depth of 3 meters (9.8 feet) and is buried 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) under sand.
