Agropoli Shipwreck, 1550-1600

Country: Italy

Place: Agropoli, Campania, ca. 130 m northeast of Castello Angioino Aragonese

Type: Round ship (initially recorded as a galley/longship; reassessed after excavation)

Identified: Not identified by name

Dated: Mid-16th to early 17th century, by ship construction; radiocarbon dating of two wood samples indicated the 15th-17th centuries, and two associated cast iron cannons were dated to the 17th century (Bondioli et al. 2014, 73-4)

Length Overall: Ca. 23 m (estimated)

History of the shipwreck

The wreck was reported in 2000 to the Superintendence for Archaeological Heritage of Naples and Caserta (Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Caserta). Paolo Caputo documented the site for the Superintendence the same year (Bondioli et al. 2014, 72). In 2004, the Italian Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities (Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali e per il Turismo) initiated Archeomar, a multidisciplinary survey of underwater cultural heritage in Campania, Basilicata, Calabria, and Puglia, covering shallow and deep-water environments (Vizzino 2014). Archeomar project members revisited the Agropoli site in 2004 and recorded it in the master database as the remains of a galley.

Due to the few longship remains known throughout the Mediterranean, the Archeomar project funded a short excavation to quantify the remains (Bondioli et al. 2014, 71-2, note 2). Only a single ceramic sherd was located on site, but it lacked diagnostic features to provide a date (Massimo Capulli, pers. comm.). The lack of artifacts may be a testament to the salvage of a wreck so close to shore, the shifting environment, and the activity of divers after its discovery. Two wood samples sent for radiocarbon dating placed the wreck between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries (Bondioli et al. 2014, 73). Archaeologists also located two cast iron cannons near the site, also dated to the seventeenth century, while the ship construction itself suggests a date anywhere between the mid-sixteenth and early seventeenth century (Bondioli et al. 2014, 74). Only the axial timbers, stern rudder, several strakes of planking, and a handful of frames on the port side survived. Nonetheless, these elements discounted the original premise that the vessel was a longship and instead suggest it is more likely a round ship.

Description of the site

The wreck rests on a sand substrate directly off the coast of Agropoli, about 130 m northeast of Castello Angioino Aragonese, with a scattering of ballast covering the wooden remains (Bondioli et al. 2014, 72).

Cargo

No cargo was reported. A single ceramic sherd, lacking diagnostic features, was the only artifact recovered from the site (Massimo Capulli, pers. comm.).

Hull Remains

Only the axial timbers, the stern rudder, several strakes of planking, and a handful of frames on the port side survived.

Keel

The mostly intact keel has a shallow rectangular cross section, supplemented by a 7 cm thick false keel. The small surviving fragment of the stem indicates its lower section is hook-scarfed to the keel, and both are rabbeted. Two sections of the keel are butted together without any scarf amidships. The ship has a straight sternpost with a short inner post that butted the top of the keel (Bondioli et al. 2014, 72-3; Capulli 2007, 16-17). The inner sternpost was cut to act as the rebate for the lower planking hood ends. After the garboard and the next strake above, this rabbet becomes shallower and shifts the planks on each upper strake slightly forward. An unusual framing element resembling a fashion piece is positioned at the transom, between the stern frame stations, helping the upper strakes bend around it and creating a flat tuck (Bondioli et al. 2014, 73-4, fig. 5-6). Two gudgeon and pintle pairs were identified on the lower section of the sternpost, alongside the adjacent rudder. The after end of the keel is cut off at an angle, creating a chamfer instead of the skeg seen on earlier examples.

Frames

Framing consists of floor timbers that overlapped futtocks without any scarf, secured with iron nails driven from both sides (Massimo Capulli, pers. comm.). Floor timbers are rectangular, with the space between frame stations roughly uniform. Initial construction used dual master frames that butted together amidships. Iron stains on top of the floor timbers suggest they were nailed to the keel (Bondioli et al. 2014, 73). A relatively square timber found over the floor timber and futtock overlap is thought to be the keelson rather than a bilge stringer; a surviving square mortise on its top face was presumably for a missing stanchion rather than the mast step (Capulli 2007, 21).

Planking

The garboards and the rest of the surviving planking are relatively thick (8 cm) compared to the estimated length of the original vessel (23 m), and relatively wide (32-34 cm). There is evidence for at least one repair, where a section of a strake was cut out and a new piece inserted (Capulli 2007, 72-3).

Ceiling, thick stuff and wales

Not described in the source text.

Fastenings

Floor timbers and futtocks were secured with iron nails driven from both sides (Massimo Capulli, pers. comm.).

Caulking

The outside of the hull shows evidence of lead sheathing up to the waterline.

Ballast

A scattering of ballast covers the wooden remains, resting on the sand substrate (Bondioli et al. 2014, 72).

Size and scantlings

The original vessel is estimated at about 23 m in length. Surviving planking is 8 cm thick and 32-34 cm wide; the false keel is 7 cm thick. Examination of the surviving frame profile suggests the ship had a slight deadrise with a round bilge (Capulli 2007, 72-3).

References

Bendig, C., 2021. Mediterraneum Mare: Shipbuilding in the Late Medieval and Early Modern Period (AD 1000 – 1700). PhD Dissertation, Texas A&M University;

Bondioli, M., et al., 2014, “Note storico-archeologiche” [full citation not given in source text];

Capulli, M., 2007 [full citation not given in source text];

Vizzino, G., 2014 [full citation not given in source text];

Capulli, Massimo, personal communication.