Mediterranean Underwater Archaeology

Since 2003 the Centre for Egyptological Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (CES RAS) has been conducting underwater archaeological reconnaissance in Alexandria (Egypt). A concession assigned to the CES RAS by the Supreme Council for Antiquities of Egypt includes a vast water area of around 80 km 2. A part of it is occupied by the modern Western port of Alexandria but the remaining area (c. 30 km 2 , its depth is up to 40 m) contains numerous traces of submerged port structures and ancient navigation. The work was concentrated at two zones-at the regions of Anfushi and Agami capes. The remains of a massive breakwater, numerous ancient anchors and a cargo of a Hellenistic shipwreck dating from the middle of the 4 th-2 nd centuries BC were discovered here. In addition, the remains of a shipwreck of the late 18 th century (French transport ship 'Le Patriote') were examined, including a sea gun and numerous firearms. The most promising directions of future activities of the CES RAS in Alexandria are considered in the 'Conclusions'.

In the north of Menorca, very close to the Cap de Cavallería, is the ancient Roman city of Sanisera located in the natural port of Sanitja that was abandoned in the early 9th century. In more modern times, this natural site was strategic at the military level and due to this, the remains of an English defense tower-martello tower-and defense parapets of the Spanish civil war are preserved. Also during more recent times, the port of Sanitja was a base for the fishing of tuna in a very short time lapse. As a testimony of this purpose, a small low-rise house is conserved, equipped with a cistern and various annexed structures, currently known as s'Almadrava. We can see it at the mouth of the port. It was built in 1787 and according to chronicles, it was the first fishing industry in Menorca. This publication aims to present a unique and surprising discovery in Menorca related to traditional coral fishing that is sufficiently documented in the most recent Balearic Islands. The piece was discovered in the course of underwater archaeological prospecting activities during 2011 and which are still in force today, led by the Sanitja archaeological association.
http://www.cime.es/WebEditor/Pagines/file/Ambit/Gener2014/8Sanitja.pdf

Al Museu Municipal de Ciutadella es conserva, des de l’hivern de l’any 2009, un lingot metàl·lic cedit al Consell Insular de Menorca pels bussejadors Marcelino Llavero i Jesús Ros, quan es van assabentar que era un objecte d’interès arqueològic. La descoberta casual submarina d’aquesta peça rectangular amb una ansa del mateix metall com si fos una petita maleta, es va produir l’any 2004 a poca distància de la costa i a escassa profunditat en el fons sorrenc de la platja de cala en Bosc, prop de cap d’Artutx, al sud del terme municipal de Ciutadella (Figures 1 i 9). Algun temps després, treballant amb els arqueòlegs Albert Martín i Mateu Riera en el seguiment arqueològic de diversos treballs de dragat a Portocolom (Felanitx, Mallorca), el lingot va ser reconegut com a romà i encara més tard, després d’una analítica efectuada per Bartomeu Salvà, es determinà que era d’estany.

During the Renaissance period, Mediterranean shipbuilding-particularly Italian-was renowned for its quality. But it is largely unappreciated today due to the scarcity of written sources and the lack of archaeological documentation. The discovery of the Mortella wrecks in Saint-Florent, Corsica, in 2005-2006, and the 2010-2019 excavation of the 16th century Mortella III, helps to fill these gaps. The main objective of this archaeological study is to identify ‘technical fingerprints’ and ‘architectural traits’ that could contribute to the formulation of an Italo-Mediterranean shipbuilding model from the early modern period. The analysis is based on comparisons with archaeological data from other wrecks of the period as well as written sources. Finally, literature research allows us to link the Mortella wrecks to their history, that of Genoese ‘navis’ sunk during the Italian wars of 1527, complementing the archaeological study with historical research.

This volume gathers papers presented at the Maritime Archaeology Graduate Symposium, held in Oxford in 2018. The event was an Honor Frost Foundation initiative dedicated to new and upcoming research focused on eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and realised by a committee from the Centre for Maritime Archaeology, University of Southampton, and the Oxford Centre for Maritime Archaeology, University of Oxford. These essays represent the proceedings of this conference and contain some of the latest research and fieldwork in the Mediterranean and beyond. Topics include ships, ports and port systems, maritime economics, chemical analysis of archaeological remains and legislation in
maritime archaeology. This publication is the product of an endeavour to promote early career research for maritime archaeologists with unique foci, and to establish a platform for them to discuss their findings with the wider community.

With an introduction by Lucy Blue and Naseem Raad.

Résumé : Le site la Motte 1 (Agde, Hérault), immergé dans le lit mineur du fleuve Hérault, est connu pour avoir livré une riche parure féminine datée du viiie siècle av. J.-C. associée à des vestiges d’habitats. Nous présentons ici une synthèse des résultats des fouilles récentes menées sur ce site entre 2011 et 2018.
Au moment de son occupation, l’établissement de la Motte se situait en bordure de lagune et à proximité de l’embouchure de l’Hé¬rault. Il se caractérise par près de 500 pieux de bois répartis en deux ensembles principaux localisés sur des hauts fonds, associés à de nombreux blocs de basalte qui ont pu participer de la structuration de l’occupation. Les pieux correspondent à plusieurs alignements cohérents faisant appel à une essence de bois en particulier. Les sondages réalisés permettent de les interpréter comme des systèmes de maintien et de protection de berge utilisant des techniques différentes : fascine de clayonnage et possibles piquets vivants en saule. Ils devaient protéger un habitat qui a malheureusement été fortement érodé par l’action du fleuve. L’analyse des corpus céramiques et des datations radiocarbone permet de caractériser une évolution de la fin du xe (Bronze final IIIa) au début du viiie siècle av. J.-C., avec un développement du site du sud vers le nord.
Différentes analyses (anthracologie, carpologie, paléoentomologie et archéozoologie) convergent vers la caractérisation d’un habitat pérenne occupé toute l’année, dont l’économie était prioritairement tournée vers l’agriculture et l’élevage. Délibérément implanté à l’interface entre deux milieux aux potentialités différentes, il s’insérait dans un réseau d’habitat régulièrement implanté le long du fleuve Hérault. Au sein de ce réseau, il ne semble pas constituer un site dépendant des occupations de hauteur de l’hinterland. Le travail du métal y semble en revanche une activité importante. Il est donc légitime de se demander si le site de la Motte n’a pas joué un rôle de producteur et de distributeur d’objets en bronze réalisé, au moins en partie, avec le minerai de cuivre du district de Cabrières ?

Mots-clés : Bronze final, habitat littoral, lagune, Hérault, clayonnage, céramique, chronotypologie, carpologie, entomologie, archéozoo¬logie, anthracologie, dendrochronologie.

Abstract : The site of la Motte 1 (Agde, Hérault), submerged in the minor bed of the Hérault River, is known for the discovery of rich female personal ornaments dated to the 8th century BC, associated with the remains of a settlement. We present here an overview of the results from recent excavations carried out at this site between 2011 and 2018. The issues related to the structuration of the site, to its duration and to its economy are addressed more particularly with the aim of giving thought to its place in the Late Bronze Age occupation of the lower Hérault valley.
Core sampling carried out on each bank of the river has revealed the presence of an open lagoon from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age. During its occupation the la Motte site was located on the edge of the lagoon and near to the mouth of the Hérault River. It is charac-terised by nearly 500 wooden piles divided into two main groups located on shoals, connected with numerous basalt blocks that may have contributed to the structuring of the occupation.
Most of the wooden pieces that could be identified are vertical elements, piles and stakes that have been rammed into the ground. The pieces analysed reveal the use of a variety of species, reflecting the diversified use of distinct environments such as Mediterranean mixed oak forests and riparian forests. Most of these are therefore young woods, which were cut into green, unbarked wood. They reflect a simple exploitation of the forest environment in which wood is abundant.
Nearly 80% of the wood identified at the site has been identified via its anatomy. This makes it possible to carry out a spatial analysis of the site’s structure based on the nature of the wood used. Several coherent alignments using a particular wood species could thus be identified. The surveys carried out made it possible to interpret them as bank support and protection systems using different techniques: arbutus wattle supported by oak piles and possible live willow piles. In the centre was a settlement that unfortunately has been severely eroded by the action of the river. However, remains of dwellings can be identified and these suggest a building plan.
The analysis of the pottery remains found in stratigraphic surveys makes it possible to characterise the temporal evolution of the site from the end of the 10th century BC (Bronze final IIIa) to the beginning of the 8th century BC. This is confirmed by radiocarbon dating which has been the subject of Bayesian modelling. These data show a development of the site from south to north. Different shoreline stabilisation systems may have been successively implemented in response to the morphological evolution of the site and its environ¬ment.
Data on the economy of the site (anthracology, carpology, paleoentomology and archaeozoology) indicate a permanent settlement occupied all year round, whose economy was primarily oriented towards agriculture and livestock. Deliberately located at the interface between two environments with different potentialities, its inhabitants built shoreline protection systems to ensure the long-term sur¬vival of the village for at least two centuries.
The village was part of a settlement network regularly established along the Hérault River. It is also the eastern extension of the polarised lagoon settlements established around the Thau pond. Within this network, the littoral habitat of la Motte does not seem to constitute a site dependent on the settlements in elevated positions of the hinterland, as has been proposed in other Languedoc regions. Metalworking, on the other hand, seems to be an important activity. It is therefore legitimate to ask whether it may have played a role as a producer and distributor of bronze objects made, at least in part, with copper ore from the Cabrières district?

Keywords: Late Bronze Age, littoral settlement, lagoon, Hérault, wattle, ceramics, chronotypology, carpology, entomology, archaeozoo¬logy, anthracology, dendrochronology.