The team believe the ship was returning from India when it sank sometime between 1575 and 1625. This was at the height of Portugal's spice trade with Asia. Chinese porcelain from the late 16th and early 17th centuries was also among the wreck, as were bronze artillery pieces and cowry shells - a currency used in the slave trade. Cascais municipal council said the ship was found at the start of September while dredging the mouth of the Tagus river, which runs past the resort town through Lisbon.