ANSJOVIS VOOR BATAVIA

Samenvatting

In the wreck of "t Vliegend Hart', a ship of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), which in 1735 sunk about 12 miles south­west of the town of Vlissingen (Flushing, the Netherlands), a wooden barrel was found. The barrel held a lead container which in its turn contained a stoneware jar with a capacity of 6 litres. In the storage jar a large quantity of fish remains was found. These were identified as bones of anchovy (Engraulis encrasicous). Because the bones appeared to be homogeneous, only a sample was taken and examined. It con­sisted of large numbers of vertebrae and bones from the pectoral girdle; hence the pot had contained decapitated anchovies. To quantify the fish, the vertebrae were count­ed, while bones from the pectoral girdle were both counted and sorted into left and right. From these countings it appeared that the pot had contained the trunks of 500 to 600 individuals. However, in terms of val­urne, packing such a number of fresh ancho­vies into a six-litre jar is not possible. Thus, the fishes must have been salted and kept in a larger vessel before being packed into the jar. The peculiar way of packaging suggests that the fish was meant to be transported over a long distance, presuma­bly to Batavia.