Over the last 50 years, following the development of the aqualung, more than 900 shipwrecks have been recorded in the Mediterranean - representing an extraordinary growth in this form of evidence (A. J. Parker 1992; Throckmorton 1987). The overwhelming majority of these wrecks lie in shallow coastal waters and their reporting shows a distinct distributional bias to the areas where recreational diving is most practiced (what one may term the ‘‘Riviera’’ effect). We must be cautious, therefore, until more diving has been carried out along the North African coastline, in the Levant, and along the Turkish coast, and the results published, about the conclusions we draw from the apparently very uneven distribution of wrecks. Moreover, new research is revealing large numbers of deep-water wrecks, which are much less susceptible to ancient salvage and modern disturbance (McCann and Freed 1994).
Wreck sites provide us with vital evidence relating to ship size, cargo capacity, marine technology, cargo composition and lading, and patterns of trade. The description of the ancient equivalent of a ‘‘super-tanker’’ (Luc. Nav. 5) can now be compared with the archaeological evidence of actual ships. These suggest that the most common category of sea-going vessel was of small size, up to 75 tonnes capacity (c.1500 amphorae), probably designed for coastal transport. There was a medium size of between 75-200 tonnes (2-3,000 amphorae), and a large-size group of around 250-300 tonnes (6,000 amphorae), and upward of 30-40 meters in length by up to 10 meters beam. Notwithstanding the fact that these ships are small by modern standards, there were few vessels larger than the top group before the early modern period.
The Madrague des Giens wreck off the southern French coast near Toulon is an interesting example of the larger class of Roman merchant ship. When it sank in 60-50 BCE, it was carrying a large cargo of Italian wine from southern Latium (estimated at 6,000-8,000 amphorae, equivalent to c.150-200,000 liters). The amphorae were tightly stacked in the hold in three or four layers and packed around with pine branches. Other elements of cargo included several hundred black gloss fineware vessels and hundreds of coarseware plates, jars, and pitchers, along with a consignment of pinecones (A. J. Parker 1992: 249-50).
Another interesting wreck site, known as Port Vendres II, provides evidence of trade originating in southern Spain in the 40s ce (K. Greene 1986: 162-3; A. J. Parker 1992: 330-1). The ship went down close to the Franco-Spanish border and may have been heading for either the mouth of the Rhone or for Italy. The mixed cargo (evidently put on board for at least 11 separate merchants) comprised amphorae - primarily the Dressel 20 type for transport of olive oil, but also wine, defrutum (sweet must), and fish sauce - fine pottery, glass, and metal ingots (tin, copper, and lead). The location of the wreck in only 7 meters of water close to the mouth of an ancient harbor made it very accessible for ancient salvage efforts and it is possible that the original cargo contained a larger number of ingots than the 23 recovered in the modern excavations, as these would have been a prime target of ancient salvage divers. The Port Vendres ship is illustrative of the close links between trade in a range of different products from a single region, where the most valuable commodity (here metals) may have served to underwrite or subsidize the transport costs of other elements. The economy of Baetica (S. Spain) was heavily dependent on mining activity in the Sierra Morena region, north of the River Guadalquivir, which was navigable by river craft and became the focus of the trade in olive oil produced on a very large scale in this region. There was some wine production also, and fish sauce production was widely developed along the coastal strip on both sides ofthe Straits of Hercules (Curtis 1991b) and was fed into the trade pattern at major harbors such as Gades (Cadiz). The distribution of finewares produced in southern Spain in Gaul and Italy appears to be entirely due to their traveling in piggy-back fashion with the major cargoes from this region.
World History
