Scientists used advanced medical imaging technology to crack the four-letter combination of a 16th-century brass padlock that remained buried on a Welsh Beach for almost 400 years.
The lock belonged to Ann Francis, a commercial ship that was wrecked off the coast of South Wales in 1583 after it ran aground due to a powerful storm.
A joint effort between Cardiff University and Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales has successfully revealed the code that once safeguarded the ship captains’ priced possessions.
The code ANCE, might have meant something to the captain, experts suggest though it remains an enigma for everyone else.
The lock was used to secure the captain’s chest which carried fine textiles, Spanish silver and maritime correspondence papers or documents before the ship met a tragic ending in the Bristol Channel.
Conservators at the Museum partnered with Cardiff University’s School of Engineering to deploy micro-computed tomography, which is a scanning method applied for studying bones and biological tissues.
The high-resolution 3D scans of the
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