RT journal article
T1 Multianalytical approach to the exceptional Late Roman shipwreck of Ses Fontanelles (Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain)
A1 Cau Ontiveros, Miguel Ángel
A1 Bernal Casasola, Darío
A1 Pecci, Alessandra
A1 Fantuzzi, Leandro
A1 Picornell Gelabert, Llorenç
A1 Valenzuela Oliver, Alejandro
A1 Retamosa Gámez, José Alberto
A1 Portillo Sotelo, José Luis
A1 Cardell Perelló, Jaume
A1 Munar Llabrés, Sebastian
A1 Juan Fuertes, Carlos de
A1 García Riaza, Enrique
A2 HistoriaGeografía y Filosofía
K1 Petrographic analysis
K1 Residue analysis
K1 Archaeozoology
K1 Amphora content
K1 Wood
K1 Shipbuilding
K1 Maritime archaeology
K1 Late Antiquity
AB The paper presents the results of an interim analytical approach to the Late Roman shipwreck of Ses Fontanelles recently found in the island of Mallorca (Balearic Islands, Spain). The excellent state of preservation of the hull and the cargo, including amphorae with painted inscriptions (tituli picti), and its location in shallow waters offshore of one of the main touristic beaches of the island makes this a unique finding in the Mediterranean. A first season of excavations and study of the cargo triggered an analytical approach to solve some of the problems pose by archaeological research, mainly related to the possible origin of the vessel. The analytical strategy combines petrographic analysis for the study of the provenance of the amphorae, archaeozoology and residue analysis to identify their content, and analysis of the wood and plant remains to understand the use of vegetal resources in shipbuilding and in the stow of the cargo. The results of the combination of the petrographic analysis, the study of the ichthyofauna and the organic residue analysis suggest that the boat probably departed from the area of Cartagena in the southeastern part of the Iberian Peninsula, carrying a cargo of fish sauce (liquaminis flos), oil, and wine (probably also some olives preserved in grape derivatives), transported in three main types of amphorae. The analysis of the wood shows, as known in Roman shipbuilding, a clear selection of forest resources. The shipbuilders used pine for longitudinal parts of the hull, while for the small pieces related to the assemblage system (pegged, mortise and tenons) and subjected to a great stress they selected harder woods mainly Cupressaceae, Olea europaea, and Laurus nobilis. In addition, the study reveals that mainly branches of Vitis vinifera, but also other herbaceous plants were used as dunnage protecting the cargo during the journey. The results help to shed some light into different aspects of this unique vessel sunk in Mallorcan waters and contributes to show the benefit of applying archaeological sciences in maritime archaeology.
PB Springer Link
SN 1866-9565
YR 2024
FD 2024-03-21
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/32933
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/32933
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 10-may-2026