ANTH318
Nautical Archaeology of the Americas
Class 9
Table I
Iberian wrecks in the New World
(with published information on the hull remains)
Table II
Iberian wrecks in the New World
(with no published information on the hull remains)
The Molasses Reef Wreck
History of the site
The Molasses Reef wreck was found in the early 1970s by
sports divers in the southern perimeter of the Caicos Bank, Turks and Caicos
Islands, in the Caribbean.
Salvaged by treasure hunters – among them the famous Teddy
Tucker – at least since 1972, this wreck was blasted by vandals just before the
Institute of Nautical Archaeology started archaeological excavations.
The archaeological excavations lasted between 1982 and 1986,
under the direction of Donald H. Keith, through INA’s Exploration and Discovery
Research Team (EDRT).
Description of the site
As it was found by the INA team, the wreck consisted of a
ballast pile extending to an area of 11.5 x 3 m, and around 60 cm high. Its weight was estimated around 35
tons. Under this ballast pile was a
preserved wooden structure, consisting of floors, futtocks, planking and
ceiling, covering an area of 2.5 x 7.5 m which represented less than 2% of the
hull, from a part of the bottom located between the keel and the turn of the
bilge.
Keel
No keel, stem or stern posts are preserved although we know,
from a preserved gudgeon, that the sternpost – and presumably the keel and stem
post – had a sided dimension of 20 cm.
Frames
Twenty-four frames or frame positions were found in
place. Floors were around 16 cm sided;
futtocks were in average 16 cm sided and 16-17 cm molded. Room-and-space was
32.5 cm. The floors overlapped the
futtocks for 75 cm, and presented dovetail joints, the mortise on the futtock
and the wider side of the trapezoid up, at least in the preserved joints. Fillers were found in place, covering the
tops of the floor timbers. The (only)
midship frame had a pair of futtocks on each side. At least 11 frames were pre-assembled.
Planking
Six rows of planking were preserved in place, presenting a thickness of
4.5 cm and widths between 28 and 35 cm.
All preserved planks were plain sawn and all were butt joined, forming
regular strakes.
Ceiling, stringers and wales
Although a few ceiling planks survived in very poor condition, their
dimensions have been estimated as 2 cm thick and around 14 cm wide on
average. Five filler pieces were found
in place.
Fastenings
A great variety of fasteners were found in the concretions around the site. These were divided into oak treenails, iron bolts, drift pins, and nails. Treenails had diameters of 2.8 cm.
Bolts were 2.7-3 cm in diameter with domed heads, 1.4-3.8 cm in diameter
with flat heads, and 1.2-2.8 cm in diameter unheaded. Their lengths varied between 30 and 50 cm. Drift pins had square shanks 1.2-2.8 cm and
lengths of 35-45 cm. Nails were
button-headed with shanks 0.1-2 cm in square, or flat-headed with square shanks
0.2-1.8 cm. Their lengths varied
between 6 and 14.5 cm.
Caulking
According to Donald Keith, "thin strips of lead had been forced
between the strakes places" and "lead sheet patches of different
shapes and sizes were found on the site".
Caulking was found wrapped around the nail heads
Rigging
Deadeye straps, chain links, coaks, ring bolts, etc.
Armament
Crossbows, arquebuzes, 2 aquebuts, 16 Versos (3 types), 2 bombardetas, 1 cerbatana, and many different types of
shot, including 137 cast-iron shot (after 1495).
Anchors
Five anchors were found, of which two are thought to be from other
vessels. One 4 m long sheet anchor, one
small boat anchor, one grapnel anchor.
Ceramics
Fragments of olive jars, basins (lebrillos), bowls (escudillas), jars, and pots (orzas).
Pump-valves
Two parts of the ship's pump were found on this wreck site.
Leg-irons (grillos)
A set of leg iron was found on this wreck site.
Ballast
A total of 35 tons; Extending
to an area of 11.5 x 3 m, ± 60 cm high.
Dating and identification of the wreck
The vessel wrecked at the Molasses Reef was a medium-size ship, perhaps
18 to 21 m of length on deck. Its
location, especially close to the area explored during the early period of
Spanish expansion, suggests an early voyage.
This is confirmed by the type of artillery found on site, dating to the
last quarter of the 15th century.
The cast-iron shot puts this wreck anytime after 1495. One olive jar fragment was similar to
another found on a context dating from 1508-1514. So far no documents pertaining to a wreck in this period and in
this area have been found.
The Highborn Cay Wreck
History of the site
The identity of this ship is unknown although it dates from
the first half of the 16th century.
The wreck was found in 1965 by sport divers in the Exuma Islands of the
Bahamas, and extensively salvaged. In
1966 it was inspected by Mendel Peterson and Teddy Tucker. The INA/EDRT carried out a survey on this
site in 1983 and limited excavations in 1986.
Description of the site
The site consisted in a 20 x 8 m area where a ballast mound
covered the remains of a hull. The hull
consisted of keel, keelson, mast step, mast step buttresses, floors, futtocks,
planking, ceiling and wales. Only the
ends of the hull were exposed, together with a trench excavated amidships.
Keel, keelson and maststep
The keel was not preserved in its full length, but was
represented by a groove in the bottom.
It was estimated to be 12.6 m in length and its section was 15-16.5 cm
sided and 21 cm molded. The keel was
joined to the stem by a flat vertical scarf with a 30 cm table. The curve of the stem was tangent to the
keel.
The keelson was notched over the floors, 16-21 cm sided and
17 cm molded. The mast step consisted
of an enlarged portion of the keelson measuring 2.25 m in length, 40 cm sided
and 25 cm molded. It had a mortise 65 x
17 x 15 cm with a 30 cm long and 15 cm wide spacer inserted in the forward end
of the mortise.
The mast step was held in place by three pairs of buttresses,
which lie over the floors and fit into notches in the sides of the mast step
and the foot wales. The buttresses were
13.5 cm sided and 21.9 cm molded on the mast step side, and 11.8 cm sided and
16 cm molded on the foot wale side.
These buttresses were not fastened in place. Two semicircular holes and a small mortise on the mast step
indicated the location of the pumps and pump wells.
Frames
The single master frame was located under the mast step, just
forward of the mortise. It had futtocks
on both sides, although only the forward futtocks had dovetail joints. The three center frames were spaced 30 cm
center to center, less than the average room-and-space, which was 30 cm.
The floors were on average 16.5 cm sided and 17.5 cm molded.
It is not known how many of the estimated total of 30 or 31 frames were
pre-assembled.
The futtocks were joined to the frames with dovetail joints.
No fasteners were noted, although recesses at the ends of the floors and
futtocks may have been cut to ease the nailing. The mortise was on the floor and the wider side of the trapezoid
down. Forward of the master frame the
futtocks were joined to the forward face of the floors and aft of this frame
they were joined to the aft face of the floors
Planking
The planking was 6 cm thick.
The strakes’ sided dimension was 8-25 cm.
Ceiling, stringers and wales
The ceiling was 3 cm thick.
The strakes’ widths ranged between 12-31 cm.
A foot wale ran along the turn of the bilge, over the
floor/futtock connections. There were
three strakes of ceiling between the keelson and the wale. The first ceiling strake after the wale was
notched to receive the fillers. Small
planks were placed between the buttresses, resting on rabbets in their upper
edges
Fastenings
Of the four bolts fastening the keel to the keelson that were
found, one passed through the space between two floors. Forelock bolts with washers and key-wedges,
square section iron nails.
Caulking
There is no information on the caulking.
Ballast
The ballast mound covered an area of 16 x 4 m. There is no estimated total weight. There were stones larger than 50 cm in
diameter. Samples were taken for
analysis.
Rigging
Deadeye straps, chain links, ring bolts, etc.
Armament
Two bombardetas, at least 13 swivel guns (versos and versos
dobles).
Anchors
One large anchor over the ballast pile (as if it was stored
in the old, just like to Molasses Reef wreck one). Two other anchors were found 100-150 m away from the ballast
pile.
Artifacts
No coins, navigational instruments, or any other precisely
datable artifacts. A knife with a
golden inlaid wooden handle. Fragments
of a bowl (escudilla) and a pitcher (cantaro).
Dating and identification of the wreck
The vessel wrecked off the Highborn Cay was also a medium-size
ship, perhaps 18 to 21 m of length on deck.
The lead-covered iron shot place the wreck between 1500 and 1570. The
exclusively rough iron artillery points to the early 16th
century. It is difficult to identify a
wreck when no diagnostic artifacts were found in place. So far no documental evidence increases the
possibility that this may be one of the two caravels lost in 1500 by Vicente
Yañes Pinzón.
The Bahía
Mujeres Wreck
History of the site
The Bahia Mujeres wreck was found in 1958 by sports divers in
the bay with the same name on the Yucatan coast. In 1959 or 1960 this site was salvaged by Edwin Link. In 1960 and 1961 the Mexican underwater
exploration club CEDAM also visited the Bahia Mujeres wreck site. In 1983 and 1984 the site was surveyed and
the artifacts (that could be located) recorded by a team from Texas A&M
University and the Institute of Nautical Archaeology.
Description of the site
The ballast mound of the Bahia Mujeres wreck extended over an
area 20 m long, and 4 to 8 m wide.
Since the site has never been excavated, we don’t know if there are any
hull remains or other artifacts within the ballast pile.
Armament
The divers who found this wreck in 1958 salvaged 1 verso and probably
another two guns. Edwin Link salvaged
at least 1 gun in 1959 or 1960. The
CEDAM group salvaged 1 falconete, 1 bombardeta, 1 verso, and 3 breech
blocks.
Dating and identification of the wreck
The Bahia Mujeres vessel was probably about the same size of the Molasses
Reef or the Highborn Cay wrecks. The
artillery found on this site places the wreck in the first half of the 16th
century. No diagnostic artifacts are
known to have been found on this site.
It is therefore impossible to date this shipwreck with more precision.
Bibliography
Book
Keith,
Donald H., "Shipwrecks of the Explorers," in Ships and Shipwrecks of the Americas,
Edited by George Bass. London: Thames & Hudson, 1988 and 1996.
Readings Packet
Keith, Donald H. “The Molasses Reef Wreck Project,” INA
Newsletter, Vol 16, No. 3, 4-9.
Oertling, Thomas J. “The
Highborn Cay wreck: The 1986 field season,” The International Journal of
Nautical Archaeology and Underwater Exploration, Volume 18, Number 3, 1989.
244-253.