The Russian-American Company frigate Neva wrecked near Kruzof Island, Alaska in 1813 and the survivors managed to stay alive for about 30 days in winter despite struggling to shore with almost nothing. Archaeologists have now come up with the story of how these sailors survived until arrival of the rescuers.

Researchers have discovered that the sailors started fires with gunflints and steel scraps and cannibalized the broken parts of ship for building the tools they used to survive.

In a statement, Dave McMahan, an archaeologist and member of the Sitka Historical Society, who is excavating the site of the Neva survivors' camp near the city of Sitka, said, “The items left behind by survivors provide a unique snapshot-in-time for January 1813, and might help us to understand the adaptations that allowed them to await rescue in a frigid, unfamiliar environment”.

In August 1812, there were around 75 people and a shipment of goods, including guns and furs in Neva when it left Okhotsk, Russia. The National Science Foundation, which is funding the new excavations, said the sailors went through three months of storms, sickness and water shortages before reaching in Alaska's Prince William Sound.

The Neva was a significant ship before it was foundered in Alaskan waters. It was a part of the armada that helped defeat the Tlingit in 1804 and enabled the Russians in establishing the city that would become Sitka.

Since two years, researchers have been excavating at the Neva survivors' camp and are looking forward to another season of fieldwork next year.

Archaeologists have been trying hard to survey the ocean floor for signs of the shipwreck, but huge thick kelp forests are coming up as obstructions in their efforts. They are also in search of historical records of the shipwreck and rescue efforts. They have discovered some written records.