(CNN) Archeologists have found a centuries-old shipwreck off Portugal's coast near Lisbon, a local mayor's office said Saturday. Aboard the ship, thought to have sunk between 1575 and 1625, divers found spices, including pepper; Chinese ceramics from the period; and cowries, a type of shell used as currency for the slave trade in some parts of Africa at the time, CNN quoted the authorities as saying on SATURDAY. The project’s science director, Jorge Freire, called it the “discovery of the decade.”

“From a conservation perspective, both of the assets as of the ship itself, this discovery is of great patrimonial value,” he said. “From a conservation perspective, both of the assets as of the ship itself, this discovery is of great patrimonial value,” he said. Also found were some of the ship’s bronze cannons, engraved with the Portuguese coat of arms and the armillary sphere that are still featured in the Portuguese flag. Archeologists working for Nova University of Lisbon in partnership with the Portuguese government found the ship on September 3, submerged just 40 feet from the surface not far from the coast of Cascais, a suburb of Lisbon, according to officials.
Archaeologists discover a centuries-old shipwreck near the Portugal coast of Cascais.