New EU-funded research, sparked by a 17th-century shipwreck, reveals how centuries of trans-Pacific trade shaped medicine, shipbuilding and geographical knowledge, and built cross-cultural connections still relevant today.
By Gareth Willmer
In 1609, the Spanish galleon San Francisco sank off Japan after sailing through storms and hurricanes en route from the Philippines to Acapulco in Mexico. The shipwreck took with it many vital clues about centuries of trans-Pacific trade and cultural
