A Dive in History, Portugal
If the great classical civilizations are immortalized through their artistic and monumental heritage, a significant part of Portuguese cultural heritage will forever be linked to the sea and to the period of maritime expansion, the Age of Discovery, and the first true globalization.
True characters of Portugal's tragic-maritime history, dozens of naus and caravels wrecked within sight of land, dragging with them crews, dreams, aspirations, and miseries.
The contexts and vestiges resulting from these shipwrecks, of high historical and scientific value, constitute the focus of our investigation. Our main objective is the promotion of rigorous scientific research, anchored in Portuguese technology, that locates, inventories, studies, and preserves the archaeological evidence of ships wrecked in Portugal, in both insular and continental seas.
The Project
Um Mergulho na História was born from the need identified by the proponents to guarantee the necessary funding to carry out prospection and location missions for submerged or interface archaeological sites on the Alentejo coast, with the participation and support of the Municipal Councils of Alcácer do Sal, Grândola, and Sines.
Mobilizing civil society for this need, the proponents submitted this idea to Portugal's State Participatory Budget program. For months, they promoted, publicized, and asked for community support at local, regional, and national levels, gathering votes and spreading awareness about the project's importance. As a result, Um Mergulho na História was the most voted idea in the Alentejo region and one of the most voted nationally in 2018.
"It is our desire to put the product of this investigation within reach of all of us. Embark with us on this discovery, following our scientific missions."
Research Methodology
The work is planned to take place over two years, with the objective of identifying, locating, or relocating the nautical and underwater cultural heritage existing on the Alentejo coast. The project includes the maritime, fluvial, and interface landscapes adjacent to or situated in the municipalities of Alcácer do Sal, Grândola, Santiago do Cacém, and Sines.
Documentary Research
To obtain an integrated reading of the aspects related to navigation and its impact on local populations, documentary research and archaeological investigation of vessel remains and support structures is conducted by a multidisciplinary team in collaboration with local communities.
Community Engagement
The project assumes an inclusive position of the populations and their local authorities in raising awareness of the heritage value that maritime culture has for the Alentejo and for Portugal. Contacts are established with sea users—shellfish gatherers, fishermen, trawl masters, spearfishers, and amateur divers—alerting them to the form and aspect with which the most common underwater archaeological remains appear underwater.
Remote Sensing Technology
In a second phase, remote geophysical prospection work is carried out using:
- LAUV (Light Autonomous Underwater Vehicles) - autonomous submarines
- UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) - drones
- Magnetometry - for detecting metal objects
- Side-scan sonar - for seabed mapping
The prospection areas are selected based on information collected both in archives and from the local community.
Documentation and Dissemination
At identified sites, registration and analysis work is subsequently carried out on the identified heritage, including its georeferencing, analysis, and virtual digital reconstruction of archaeological contexts, to be made available to the general public through a digital guide to Alentejo heritage.
Um Mergulho na História aims to develop a set of tasks that can be replicated in other areas of heritage interest and systematically contribute to the construction of a database with high standards of detail and geopositioning of archaeological sites, so that they can be identified, registered, analyzed, and inventoried.
Fieldwork and Discoveries
The project officially started in September 2021. By mid-2022, the team had conducted:
- Three visual prospection campaigns in the maritime interface area (Alcácer do Sal, Melides, and Tróia)
- One underwater geophysical prospection campaign off Porto Covo
- An international workshop on fluvial archaeology in Alcácer do Sal
The Sines Bay Discovery (2022)
In the spring and summer of 2022, the first archaeological fieldwork was carried out in Sines, in the bay of Sines and in the anchorage area of Pessegueiro Island. For the first time, an archaeological verification mission visited a location in Sines bay where, in the 1960s, cannons and ballast stones had already been identified.
"Everything indicates that the remains belong to a ship that was carrying obsolete war material from the first half of the 19th century. The next step will be to discover exactly which ship sank."
The campaign was led by researcher Sónia Bombico of the University of Évora, with participation from Miguel Martins and Filipe Castro. The work also had logistical support from the Sines Municipal Council and the participation of Gonçalo Chinita, a municipal technician.
Pessegueiro Island
The wide protected bay of Sines has been shelter for vessels since at least Roman times. Although lacking adequate port structures almost until the contemporary era, the bay served as a port for the town of Sines throughout the centuries. On its bottom lie remains from different periods, direct testimony of human activity.
Pessegueiro Island, located south of Sines, was an important coastal enclave from antiquity, as revealed by the remains of Roman occupation of the island and the continuous use of the anchorage area in front of the island over the following centuries.
Port Archaeology Symposium (2022)
As part of the project's commitment to public dissemination and academic exchange, the Symposium on Port Archaeology was held in Sines in November 2022. The two-day event brought together international scholars to discuss:
- The history and archaeology of port infrastructure
- Underwater cultural heritage management practices
- Case studies from Portugal, Spain, Norway, Turkey, and the Azores
- Conservation and preservation of submerged archaeological sites
Featured presentations included discussions on the port of Sines' history from the Liberal Regeneration to the industrial-port complex (1851-1968), maritime cultural landscapes, and the virtual reconstruction of ancient harbors.
The Research Team
The Um Mergulho na História team is composed of archaeologists, researchers, volunteers, and divers. Key members include:
- Filipe Vieira de Castro – Project Coordinator, Center for Functional Ecology, University of Coimbra
- Alexandre Monteiro – Institute of Archaeology and Paleosciences, NOVA FCSH University of Lisbon
- Sónia Bombico – CIDEHUS, University of Évora
- Miguel Martins – Center for Functional Ecology, University of Coimbra
Historical Context: The Arade River
The project builds upon decades of underwater archaeology work in Portugal. In 2003, the National Archaeological Museum presented the exhibition "Um Mergulho na História: underwater archaeology in the Arade River", organized in partnership with the Portimão Municipal Council.
The exhibition aimed to reveal the archaeological and heritage richness of the Arade River from its historical-geographical contextualization, the transformations resulting from its navigability, and the human occupation of its banks. It followed the emergence of a new perspective on the importance of underwater archaeological heritage.
As a reflection of the intense use of the river as an important fluvial-maritime "road," a valuable collection of materials of great typological and chronological diversity has been uncovered over the last 30 years.
Project Funding
Um Mergulho na História is a project of the Direção Geral do Património Cultural (General Directorate of Cultural Heritage), funded by the Orçamento Participativo de Portugal (Participatory Budget of Portugal) — Project OPP nº 466.