The Pepper Wreck Project

Transcription

1 The Pepper Wreck Project São Julião da Barra 2000 Preliminary Report Introduction This report discusses the archaeological field season of 2000 on the presumed remains of the Portuguese Indiaman Nossa Senhora dos Mártires, wrecked in 1606 off the São Julião da Barra fortress at the mouth of the Tagus river, in Lisbon, Portugal. Found in 1993 during a survey promoted by the Portuguese Museu Nacional de Arqueologia in the area around the fortress of São Julião da Barra these remains were excavated in 1996/97 by the Centro Nacional de Arqueologia Náutica e Subaquática (CNANS) as part of the Project of the Portuguese pavilion at the world exhibition EXPO'98, held in Lisbon from May to October of that year. In 1999 CNANS promoted a field season on this wreck site with the support of the Portuguese Navy and the INA, aiming at the study of the remains of the hull of this vessel. Its timbers were exposed once again and some details missing on the records registered for further study. Part of the frames were disassembled and raised, and part of the outer planking prepared to be raised in a future intervention. The remaining part of the hull was protected with sandbags and covered with a layer of sand. The 2000 Season In the summer of 2000 CNANS promoted a third field season on this site with the support of the company MarCascais, the INA, and Texas A&M University, aiming again at the study of the hull remains, as well as the study and organization of the artifact collection. This season lasted two months. In the first two weeks an intense underwater work was promoted by a team from CNANS to record some important construction details and to raise most of the timbers that 1

2 were left prepared to be recuperated. The remaining six weeks were spent recording the timbers and organizing the collection of artifacts. A team of three including myself was engaged full time during the first weeks, which were spent with the underwater work: support work: Filipe Castro (CNANS - Portugal and Texas A&M University / INA) Miguel Aleluia (CNANS - Portugal) Guilherme Garcia (CNANS - Portugal) In this task we were assisted by other divers, especially in what pertains to the surface Anthony Randolph (Texas A&M University / INA) Carlos Martins (Portugal) Pedro Caleja (Portugal) For the recording of the timbers raised, analysis and organization of the artifact collection, a work that included the preparation of a database and the reorganization of all the excavation records and pictures, this team was enlarged with: Sara Brigadier (Texas A&M University / INA) Erika Laanela (Texas A&M University / INA) Mason Miller (Texas A&M University / INA) Brian Jordan (University of Minnesota / INA) Julie Polzer (University of Minnesota / INA) Paulo Jorge Rodrigues (CNANS - Portugal) Pedro Gonçalves (CNANS - Portugal) Tiago Fraga (CNANS - Portugal) In the last weeks of the project some survey dives on the site were performed, including the excavation of inspection trenches, in order to try to verify an information about the existence of another hull portion, presumably from the same vessel, in a nearby area. However, the site was extremely silted and no structure could be detected. Financing This field season was funded by CNANS, MarCascais, the INA, and Texas A&M University. The costs presented below are still estimations, since I did not yet receive the precise sums actually spent, neither from CNANS not from MarCascais. The INA paid for the airfares, since all five participants from Texas A&M and Minnesota Universities also worked in 2

3 the Azores Project, after having stopped in Lisbon for a month to work on the Pepper Wreck Project. The total expenses were estimated in the following way: Item Cost Funding Source Director (Grant) $1,500 CNANS Team Transportation (stop over in Lisbon) INA Room (for 4 people) $1,600 CNANS Living expenses (for 3 people) $1,300 CNANS Boats Harbor facilities $2,500 Marcascais 6m w/ 2x75Hp $200 CNANS 6m w/ 1x50Hp $200 CNANS Cars 1 pick-up van $900 CNANS Fuel $200 CNANS Excavation equipment Measuring equipment $100 CNANS Drawing equipment $100 CNANS Films and development $400 CNANS Compressor $400 CNANS Water Dredges (2) $100 CNANS Air Lift $80 CNANS Tanks and weights (10) $500 CNANS Fuel $100 CNANS Conservation Vats $1,000 CNANS Chemicals $150 CNANS Personnel $3,500 CNANS Drawing equipment Mylar $50 CNANS Paper $30 CNANS Pens $30 CNANS Pencils $10 CNANS Transport of artifacts and samples $250 TAMU (Dr.K.C.) Total $15,200 3

4 Conclusion With this last season on the Pepper Wreck the data necessary for a complete analysis and tentative reconstruction of the hull were fully recovered. The study of the collection of artefacts will certainly continue for at least another season, since many exams are still waiting execution at Texas A&M University, and the organization and publication of the artifact collection is still being undertaken at this time. The extent of future work on this site will depend on the political decisions made by CNANS, in view of the numerous priorities waiting for urgent interventions, of which three were located this last summer in the surroundings of Lisbon, one shipwreck dating from the mid-17 th century, and two others from the 18 th century. Bibliography Being simultaneously the first Portuguese Indiaman to be excavated by archaeologists, the anchor project for the establishment of a state agency for underwater archaeology in Portugal (today's CNANS), and the main subject of the Portuguese pavilion in the world exhibition EXPO'98, it is natural that this wreck has received much attention from the press. Additionally, the wreck was also the theme for several books for children and high school students, as well as for technical publications. Below the most relevant published titles on this wreck are indicated Alves, Francisco, São Julião da Barra, Projecto de Arqueologia Subaquática, Relatório dos Trabalhos Efectuados em 1994, Ed. Arqueonáutica Centro de Estudos, Belo, Mónica "O Tesouro das Indias" Grande Reportagem, No.72, Ano VIII, March Afonso, Simonetta L. Nossa Senhora dos Mártires: A Última Viagem. Ed. Verbo / EXPO 98, Lisboa, Also edited in English and Spanish. Castro, Luis Filipe, Histórias de pimenta e astrolábios, Altantis / TAP Air Portugal, No. 5, Setembro / Outubro 1998, pp Also edited in English (pp ). Castro, Filipe, The remains of a Portuguese Indiaman carrack at Tagus mouth, Lisbon, Portugal (Nossa Senhora dos Mártires, 1606?, Pre-Proceedings of the International Symposium Archaeology of Medieval and Modern Ships of Iberian-Atlantic Tradition. Ed. IPA/CNANS, Lisbon, September Magalhães, Ana Maria, Tesouros do Mar Português, Ed. Grupo de Trabalho do 4

5 Ministério da Educação para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos, Magalhães, Ana Maria and Alçada, Isabel Nau Nossa Senhora dos Mártires, Na Crista da Onda, No. 21, Ed. Grupo de Trabalho do Ministério da Educação para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos, Castro, Filipe, Underwater Archaeology in Portugal: policies, budgets and results, INA Quarterly, Vol.25, No.4, Winter 1999, pp Castro, Filipe, A Nau da Pimenta, O Independente, Agosto 13, Filipe Castro, Relatório da Campanha de Escavação Arqueológica SJB 99, College Station, December Brigadier, Sara "The Artifacts of the Pepper Wreck", A preliminary analysis of the hull, INA Quarterly (in print). Castro, Filipe "The Pepper Wreck", Pre-Proceedings of the Society for Historical Archaeology, Québec City, January Castro, Filipe, The remains of a Portuguese Indiaman carrack at Tagus mouth, Lisbon, Portugal. Nossa Senhora dos Mártires, 1606?, Proceedings of the International Symposium Archaeology of Medieval and Modern Ships of Iberian-Atlantic Tradition. Ed. IPA/CNANS, (in print). Castro, Filipe, The last field season on the Pepper wreck. A preliminary analysis of the hull, INA Quarterly (in print). College Station, October 23, 2000 Filipe Castro 5