Analysis of what has been described as one of the best-preserved and significant ancient vessel discoveries in the Mediterranean has revealed new insights into shipbuilding and what people in the late Roman period liked to eat, drink and trade.
Two years ago Scuba Diver carried a preliminary report as divers finished raising contents of the Ses Fontanelles late Roman shipwreck, which had been discovered in shallow waters off the Spanish island of Mallorca in 2019. Somehow the ship had remained undisturbed for 1,700 years, despite lying only 65m off the popular Ca’n Pastilla beach in the Bay of Palma.
Now in-depth analysis of the ship’s cargo of some 300 clay amphoras has highlighted some of the foodstuffs being carried onboard, including a fish sauce known as liquaminis flos, and fruit preserves.
The findings are contained in a new study by the Arqueomallornauta project, run by regional authority the Consell de Mallorca and maritime archaeologists from the universities of the Balearic Islands, Barcelona and Cadiz.
Out of Spain
The timber wreck was 12m long with a 5m beam and is reckoned to have sunk in the 4th century AD, possibly during a storm. It had been heading east from Cartagena in south-eastern Spain, where it is now thought to have been built.
The hull contained three types of amphora, including many of those known as Almagro 51C, and around 100 of the jars were labelled to indicate their contents.
The researchers describe the Ses Fontanelles wreck as “one of the few cases around the Mediterranean where, thanks to an exceptional state of preservation, it is possible to relate the information of the painted inscriptions with the paleocontent”. Residues in those amphoras labelled as carrying fish sauce were analysed to reveal traces of anchovies and sardines.
A second type of amphora unfamiliar to the archaeologists, who tagged it Ses Fontanelles I, was found to contain plant-oil residues, while a third, flat-bottomed amphora type had contained either wine or olives preserved using grape derivatives.
More plant residues, mostly grapevines, were found between the amphoras. These are thought to have provided a leafy covering or “dunnage” to pad and protect the jars. A single pine-cone was also found; this might have been used to separate amphoras, or to plug the top of one.
Timber analysis
Analysis of the hull timbers has revealed that pine was used for the longitudinal hull planking, with the harder woods cypress, olive and bay used for the pegs and mortise and tenons joints that would have been subjected to the most stress. Cargo bulkheads were also intact.
Recovered from the wreck in 2022 had been two shoes, one leather and one fibre; a cooking pot; an oil lamp and a wood-working drill.
“The results help to shed some light into different aspects of this unique vessel sunk in Mallorcan waters and contribute to show the benefit of applying archaeological sciences in maritime archaeology,” say the researchers. Their study is published in the journal Archaeological & Anthropological Sciences.
Also read: 2,000-year-old Roman vessel discovered off Italy, Divers extract Roman relic from Blue Grotto, ‘Incredibly rare’ anchor unveiled to public, The Atlantis of Italy – A Dive into History
