User:Cunningseafarer12/Bajo de la Campana Phoenician shipwreck

Article Draft
Journey of the ship (new section):

The Phoenician ship at Bajo de la Campana was presumed to have been a trading vessel that was traveling from the Eastern Mediterranean to the Western Mediterranean. Due to the remains discovered, it is believed that this ship was carrying luxury items to be gifted or traded with indigenous people in exchange for land access. Additionally, other items recovered were likely intended for Phoenician workshops along the coast of Spain as well as further East.

The presumed voyage of the ship found at the Bajo de la Campana shipwreck began towards the end of the seventh century BCE. It is believed that the ship set sail from a Phoenician port along the South coast of Spain and headed East. When the ship reached Cabo de Palos, a rocky spit of land that jetted out into the sea at the point where the Spanish coast turns Northward, roughly around present-day Cartagena, the ship came across a very strong Easterly headwind. This Easterly headwind forced the bow of the boat to point closer towards the shore, towards Cabo de Palos. Closer to the shore, the boat encountered many obstacles such as shoals and rocks such as Las Horrmigas, Isla Grosa, El Farallón Rock, and Bajo de la Campana. The ship was able to navigate through all of the obstacles and dangers up to Bajo de la Campana by sailing around a mile off shore. When the ship reached the Easterly part of the Bajo de la Campana Shoal, it encountered bad weather and ran aground, and large boulders on the seabed tore a large hole in the ship. Due to this extensive amount of damage, the ship sunk, along with the over four tons of cargo it was carrying, a short distance away from the shoal.

Ship remains (info to add to existing section):

Most of the large fragments of the ship were quickly swept away by ocean currents, as only a few fragments of the ship's hull where discovered. However, a large amount of smaller remnants of the ship and cargo remained in place at the shipwreck. Many of the smaller remains were trapped in a cave at the base of the shoal. Additionally, many small remains were all trapped between rocks at the base of the shoal and some pottery pieces were scattered around the seabed, held down by sediment.

Cargo found that’s not listed/specified in the current page:


 * Specify that 154 plano-convex ingots, mostly small and circular
 * Specify that 13 cooper ingots were found (add number)
 * Add that pots were found, specify that tripod mortars were found, and lamos were found
 * Add that a pin made of antler, specify double-ended boxwood combs, add decorated ostrich eggs, add ivory ring stand, add alabaster jar

Ideas of what I can add to the current Wikipedia article:
Overview/Intro Section:


 * Add information about the importance of this shipwreck

Location and Discovery Section:


 * Add an overview detailing all of the dives that have occurred at Bajo de Campo
 * Add more information about how Bajo de Campo was discovered
 * Add why it was hard to dig at this site (all of the boulders)

Cargo Section:


 * The current article does not include all of the cargo found, add anything that is missing
 * Add information about the background of the ceramics on board

New Sections I could add:


 * The future of the excavation site and what still needs to be investigated/understood

= Notes: = The INA Anual: “Claude and Barbara Duthuit Expedition to Bajo de la Campana, Spain” by Mark E. Polzer:

Ship’s Journey:


 * Set sail from a Phoenician port along the south coast of Spain headed to the east
 * Cabo de Palos was a rocky spit of land that was stuck out into the sea at the point where the coast turned Northward
 * At the Cabo de Palos the ship came across a very strong easterly headwind, forcing the bow of the boat (the front of the boat) closer to the shore
 * There were many obstacles in this area such as shoals and rocks at Las Hormigas, Isla Grosa and El Farallón rock, and Bajo de la Campana
 * The ship made it past all obstacles up to Bajo de la Campana
 * The ship hit the easterly part of the Bajo de la Campana shoal where boulders tore a large hole in the ship
 * The ship sunk a short distance away from the shoal

Shipwreck itself:


 * Larger pieces of the ship quickly swept away
 * Small pieces were trapped in a cave at the base of the shoal or between rocks at the base of the shoal
 * Some pottery pieces were also scattered across the seabed and held down by sediment

Previous Excavations:


 * Excavation from June-Spetember 2011 by INA directors and others
 * During this excavation, the Shipwreck was brought to completion after five consecutive years of excavation

2011 Campaign:


 * Approximately 1,300 lots of artifacts were raised by the elevation team in 2011
 * Approximately 12,000 artifacts and objects found
 * Important finds: ceramic vecssels, tools and implements, luxury goods
 * From here the article goes into great depth and detail about the ceramics, bulk cargo, tools, and luxury goods

Overall:


 * Important artifacts found throughout the different expeditions:
 * Many prestigious goods such as a limestone pedestal, bronze and boxwood furniture pieces, a bronze arm-shaped fixture, oil bottles, combs, a dagger, wine and perhaps olive oil carried in amphora
 * The bronze furnishings, eggshell and alabaster vessels, fine wine, and perfumed oils show the affluence and high social standing of the owners
 * The owner’s conenction to ancient Egypt is shown by the presence of a ceremonial stave, fan, and daggers

Interpretation of the ivory onboard:


 * Could be viewed as a luxury commodity
 * But more likely, was the raw material on its way to a colonial workshop (along with the other raw materials found onboard the ship)
 * Lots of ivory but amount of metal is low for the time
 * Therefore, maybe were fulfilling a specific order

Interpretation of the ceramics on board:


 * Some pieces indicates a production zone along the southern coast of Andalusia
 * During the 7th c. BCE, Bajo de la Campana was experiencing economic prosperity
 * Importance place for production and export of agricultural and fish products, pottery, purple dye, oil, wine, and unguents, and metal trade
 * The Phoenician colony of La Fonteta was just North of Bajo de la Campana and was also flourishing during this time
 * La Fonteta had important metal working industries
 * During this time, this area was continually importing ceramics from workshops along the Southern Coast

“Strategies for Underwater Cultural Heritage: The Case for the Bajo de la Campana Phoenician shipwreck” by Mark E. Polzer: Locating/Finding the shipwreck:


 * The shipwreck site has been known since at least 1958
 * Found by scrap-metal salvaging on modern shipwrecks at the site found archaeological materials at the site
 * Soon after, sports divers took exposed artifacts from the shipwreck as souvenirs but did give many of the significant pieces they found to authorities in 1979

Excavating the site:


 * Initial dives indicated that the sport divers took the obvious pieces from the site but there was much more to be recovered
 * The seabed surrounding the site is very rocky with many boulders making it difficult
 * Could see pottery sherds scattered around the site
 * After positive results after the initial survey of the site, a full-scale excavation and conservation program was initiated
 * The INA led the excavation and research
 * ARQUA oversaw the material conservation

Cargo found:


 * 50 elephant tusks, some had inscriptions


 * Note: looks like Roladan Bernal et al, 1995, 28-30 may have more info on this, check it out


 * 154 plano-convex ingots, mostly small and circular
 * 13 cooper ingots
 * 10,000 nuggets of galena, represent a ton of the lead ore
 * Pottery collection including most pottery types known of Western Phoenicians


 * Included: amphoras, pots, plates, bowls, tripod mortars, lamos, oil bottles, small jugs, and small pitchers


 * Some more luxurious items such as ivory-handled knives/daggers, a pin made of antler, double-ended boxwood combs, bronze furniture elements, bronze thymiateria stands, a bronze ceremonial piece, decorated ostrich eggs, an ivory ring stand, fragments of an alabaster jar, and a fluted limestone pedestal

Significance of this shipwreck:


 * Bajo de la Campana Phoenicians Shipwreck was the first potential Phoenician shipwreck from the Mediterranean region between 850 and 600 BC that has been excavated and had a systematic study done