Wonderful discovery of a Roman merchant ship 50 meters from a beach in the Balearic Islands

A Roman merchant ship sank in Majorca around 1,700 years ago. The cargo it was carrying as well as the personal belongings of the crew were quickly buried after the sinking and their exceptional preservation makes it possible to know who was on the ship but also to know the contents of the cargo.

About 1,700 years ago, a ship Roman sailed in the western Mediterranean Sea. While making a stopover on the Spanish island of Majorca, the largest of the Balearic Islands, this ship was shipwrecked. Was he the victim of a storm or a violent storm ? The causes of this sinking are unknown and the wreckage remained hidden from the eyes of all for 1,700 years.

Three years ago, however, a summer storm so stirred the waters of the Bay of Palma de Mallorca that the ship’s carcass was clearly visible to several groups. The obvious presence of an archaeological site as well as the promising occurrence of sunken treasures prompted the Council of Majorca to take action to explore the site. This project Arqueomallornauta is intended to salvage the remains of the wreck and its contents.

A wreck full of surprises

This project will last three years, yet the wreckage is not particularly difficult to access. It is located 50 meters from the beach and rests just two meters below the surface of the water. The incredible preservation of the pavement has however allowed the exceptional preservation of many objects whose reassembly requires the greatest precautions. Preservation that the ship and its treasures owe to their rapid burial in the sands of the seabed after the sinking.

The vessel was 12 meters long and five to six meters wide, it was probably a merchant ship, judging by the cargo that sank with it. This cargo indeed included hundreds of amphoras containing wine, olives, oil and garum. Garum is a sauce which was used in particular by the Romans and which was made from fish fermented in salt. This sauce was probably characterized by a taste ofumami.

The archaeologists who study the sunken objects in Majorca did not have much difficulty in identifying the contents of the amphoras because these are in an exceptional state of conservation. Their preservation in sealed amphoras buried in the sand in fact isolated them from oxygen as well as from light and currents. This preservation does not only concern the organic content of the amphoras.

The divers also found pieces of textile, a leather shoe and a sneaker. The team of archaeologists and divers is also impressed by the state of conservation of the ship because the wood of which it is composed is in such good condition that it is still solid and makes it possible to complete the knowledge of the architecture of Roman merchant ships.

Did the crew sink with the ship or did they make it to shore? The research team does not know, but it indicates that the objects belonging to the people embarked bear marks of paganism such as the symbol of the moon associated with the goddess Diana but that part of the amphoras carries also Christian seals. A Christian cargo was therefore perhaps transported between Spain and Italy by a pagan crew.