‘I had found gold before, but not like this’: four of the most splendid treasures salvaged from shipwrecks

The lifting of the anchor is a key moment in any wreck excavation. Photograph: Wreckhunters

Treasure and shipwrecks go hand in hand – but what are the most magnificent and historically significant items ever salvaged and what do they tell us about the world we live in? The underwater archaeologist Mensun Bound, who was the director of exploration on the team that discovered Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance, has written a new maritime history of the world through shipwrecked objects he has encountered over the course of his career.

Here, he reveals some of the most important – and quirky – items that have ever been salvaged from the sea.