Southampton AI project decodes 461 years of British shipping history
AI has managed to decode 461 years of Britain's shipping history by analyzing about 100,000 pages of old handwritten records.
Led by professor Craig Lambert at the University of Southampton, the project reveals how British trade routes shifted from the Elizabethan era right up to the pre-Industrial Revolution, giving us a fresh look at how Britain shaped global trade.
AI reveals England imports, European links
The AI didn't just track major goods Britons traded like coal and ale; it also uncovered quirky items like Chinese children's toys making their way into England.
The research highlights that around 80% of England's trade in the late 1600s was with Europe.
Plus, it rediscovered lost trading hubs such as Ravenspurn (now vanished due to coastal erosion), and mapped out the development of England's trade routes and global impact over two centuries in detail for the first time, making all these discoveries easy to explore through an interactive map.