A completely preserved boat has been lying on the seabed off the coast of Murcia in southern Spain for 2,600 years. So that it doesn’t get lost in the next storm, it is now being salvaged.
Mazarrón – 2,600 years ago there was a storm on the coast of Mazarrón in the Murcia region in southeastern Spain. A small, heavily laden boat gets into distress. The crew decides to head for the small island off the beach of the same name, La Isla, and seek shelter. But the waves are too high and throw the wooden boat towards the beach until it capsizes and sinks. After the storm passes, the crew goes on a search to at least save the cargo. But there is no trace of the boat. It lies aground in the water just 50 meters in front of them and is still there today.
“In accidents like this near the shore “The sea buries a wreck very quickly under the sand,” explains Carlos de Juan, archaeologist at the University of Valencia in Spain. “In an hour the boat will no longer be visible.” A blessing for science today. Because in front of La Isla beach in Mazarrón – a popular family beach – there is a real archaeological treasure, “a historical, unique find,” as Carlos de Juan says.
Sunken boat off Spain’s coast: The most complete ancient ship ever found
The boat comes from the Phoenician period, from the 6th century BC, and is completely preserved from bow to stern thanks to the one and a half meter thick layer of sand that has protected it from storms like a natural buffer, but which is gradually disappearing over time. “There are only three boats in the western Mediterranean that are similarly well preserved,” explains the archaeologist. “But only the boat from Mazarrón is attributed to the Phoenicians, the others to the Greeks.” It is the most complete ancient ship ever found.
The small, eight meter long and two meter wide wooden boat is of great international interest beyond Spain’s borders because there are only a few archaeological finds from the Phoenician period, reports costanachrichten.com. The ship and its cargo provide a glimpse into the everyday life of the Phoenicians 2,600 years ago. The wreck reveals a lot about ancient shipping and boat building techniques. The Phoenicians were considered very accomplished seafarers. Even the rival Greeks admitted this in their writings.
2,600-year-old boat off the coast of Spain: lead on board
In addition to the lead blocks, there were also on board Ceramic amphorae were found in which wine, oil and fish sauce were stored, a basket made of plant residues with a wooden handle, a hand mill and anchor made of wood and lead in perfect condition. Science agrees: the boat must not be lost and must be preserved for future generations. Therefore, it is now being recovered through a complex and lengthy process, restored on land and exhibited at the National Museum of Underwater Archeology in Cartagena, Arqua, Spain, which is under the control of the Ministry of Culture of the central government.
For years, experts debated the fate of the small boat in Spain: should it be salvaged or better left where it is, on the bottom between the beach and the island of La Isla on the coast of Murcia? The decision was made by an international panel of experts with the participation of UNESCO. “There is no other option than to get the boat out of the water,” summarizes Carlos de Juan, who is in charge of the scientific management of the salvage operation.
2,600-year-old boat off the coast of Spain: salvage essential
“The boat is in a dangerous place,” explains the archaeologist. Due to the construction boom on the coast in the 1970s, the sea currents changed and the protective layer of sand was removed. At the same time, sand accumulated under the boat, lifting it. This is another stroke of luck for science, otherwise divers would not have been able to discover the boat in 1994. In order to protect the ship from the currents and also from looters, it was protected by a special metal housing in 2000.
Erosion on the seabed is progressing continuously. “We don’t have a crystal ball, but we know that every 50, 70 or 100 years a huge storm can come that the boat wouldn’t survive,” says Carlos de Juan. To work out the procedure for salvaging the ship in Spain, divers descended to the wreck in June. “We opened the metal coffin and found that the ship remained intact,” says Carlos de Juan. “It’s normal for the 2,600-year-old wood to be full of cracks.”
2,600-year-old boat off the coast of Spain: Like a puzzle being put back together
The archaeologist describes the boat as a large, assembled puzzle. “Our job is to find the largest pieces of the puzzle that we can lift out of the water.” The ship is then taken out of the water piece by piece, with one piece being two meters long and one meter wide. “There are fragments through the cracks. If necessary, we carry out small operations with a scalpel that are so fine that they are not visible.” Carlos de Juan estimates that there could be eight to ten pieces of the puzzle in total.
A frame is then pushed under the boat part and closes over the piece. The whole thing is lifted out of the water in a horizontal position. “We have to be careful that the wood doesn’t dry out. It doesn’t matter that it comes into contact with air.” On the surface of the water, it is quickly inspected and documented. Sketches are made, photos are taken and scanned with a laser. The puzzle piece will be protected with a plastic film to keep it moist while it is transported to Arqua’s laboratory in Cartagena, Spain. The first step in the lab is to desalinate the piece of boat in a basin of water. The wood is cleaned and sand, remains of sea creatures and lime are removed. “The procedure is complicated, but recognized and proven,” says expert Carlos de Juan.
2,600-year-old boat off Spain: The shipwreck says more about Phoenicians than other finds
The wood is then impregnated with artificial resins. “In the sea, the cellulose in the wood decomposes,” explains Carlos de Juan. “This creates cracks and gaps.” These are filled with resin and the treated wood is dried in a freezer dryer. “The process takes about six months for each piece. The whole boat will probably only be restored in four to five years.”
No scientist will doubt that the effort is worth it. “The discovery of a well-preserved ancient shipwreck is something very special,” says Dirk Blaschta, archaeologist at the German Archaeological Institute in Madrid, “because it says much more about the Phoenicians than settlement sites.” Settlements are often difficult to access because they were built over by the Romans. “You first have to dig through everything Roman, and that can take decades. The Phoenician settlements often simply continued to be used in Roman times; only a few of them lay fallow.”
Sunken boats off Murcia’s coast: Second Phoenician ship with 50 tusks on board
The 2,600-year-old Phoenician boat that lies on the seabed on La Isla beach in Mazarrón in Spain and is now being recovered is not the only relic of the Phoenicians on the coast of the Murcia region. In 1988, right next to the ship, divers found the remains of a second wreck from this time at a depth of 2.50 meters. Thanks to a dense layer of dead plant remains that covered the wreckage, this ship was also preserved on the seabed, although not completely.
The remains were removed from the water and restored in 1993 and can be seen at the National Museum of Underwater Archeology in Cartagena, Spain. Excavation campaigns take place regularly in summer in Mazarrón on La Isla beach. The participants have already brought thousands of ceramic remains ashore, amphoras, pots, plates, vases and jewelry. The curious finds include a decorated ostrich egg and a necklace pendant in the shape of a phallus with wings. However, the piece of jewelry from the first century AD was assigned to the Romans.
Second ancient boat off Murcia: Ivory was with Phoenician letters
Just 50 kilometers from the site, on the coast of San Javier in the Murcia region, are the remains of the cargo of another ship from the 7th century BC. The boat, of which nothing remains today, carried raw materials and luxury goods such as bronze furniture and ceramics. The most important part, however, consisted of 50 tusks from African elephants.
“The ivory had Phoenician letters on it, probably names,” says Carlos de Juan, an archaeologist at the University of Valencia in Spain. There were also tin bars on board. “This is a highly prized mineral of the era and is believed to have been used to found a sacred site.”
Second Phoenician boat off Murcia: wrecked on dangerous rock
It is hardly surprising that the structure of the boat was never found. The Phoenician boat probably crashed into a dangerous rock formation that rose to the surface from a depth of 24 meters and where many accidents have occurred. “In the 18th century, a bell was attached to the rock to warn the boatmen,” says Carlos de Juan. That’s why the place is also called Bajo de la Campana (Under the Bell).
That didn’t help much. “In 1960, the military decided to blow up the stone rock. “Unfortunately, the boulders fell on the excavation site of the Phoenician wreck,” regrets Carlos de Juan. “In the 1960s, people didn’t care whether there was anything valuable on the seabed.” The ivory cargo was discovered in 1950 by divers who were cleaning the seabed off the coast of Murcia. In 2007, the excavation and restoration of the valuable finds began, which are also exhibited in the Arqua Museum.
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