Baie de l’Amitié, second half of the 1st century AD
Country: France
Place: Baie de l’Amitié, Agde (Hérault), at a depth of 3 m
Coordinates (approximate): 43.29, 3.50
Type: Roman merchant ship
Identified: No
Dated: Second half of the 1st century AD, based on the typology of the Dressel 20 amphorae and the La Graufesenque terra sigillata.
Beam: Unknown.
Keel Length: Unknown; 4.80 m preserved.
Length Overall: Estimated at a maximum of 20 m.
Number of Masts: Unknown; one mast step is attested.
History of the wreck
The Baie de l’Amitié wreck lies at a depth of 3 m in the area of Agde (Hérault, France). It was the subject of an archaeological test excavation in 1984 and was excavated in 1985–86 by Fonquerle. In 1998 a new intervention was carried out on the site (now under the name Battus) by Souques and Jézégou; the absence of material and other evidence showed that the wreck (which was not listed) had already been excavated, and a comparison between the new documentation and the existing records of the Baie de l’Amitié showed that it was the same wreck. In 2001 a partial destruction of the site was observed, with the loss of numerous frames. In 2002 work resumed with a sampling campaign for the palaeobotanical identification of the species used in the construction of the hull.
The cargo, of Hispanic origin, was looted almost in its entirety. According to the author, the ship probably sailed from a port on the Catalan coast, bound for one of the ports of southern Gaul such as Arles.
Description of the site
The wreck lies at a depth of 3 m. A section of hull 7.75 m long and 3.2 m wide was preserved, with 22 frames, 14 strakes, the keel and the stem (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Plan of the Baie de l’Amitié wreck with the identification of the wood species, showing the use of Quercus for both the keel and the planking (after Wicha 2010: 147).
Cargo
The cargo, of Hispanic origin, consisted of Dressel 20 amphorae and lead ingots. An LCM stamp found on the Baie de l’Amitié was dated at Monte Testaccio to the reign of Marcus Aurelius–Commodus (Wicha 2010: 139); however, the typology of the olive-oil amphorae is clearly of the second half of the 1st century AD. The lead cargo (2.8 t) consisted of 98 elongated ingots with a flat base and a rounded upper face, weighing from 6 to 43 kg, with various decorations.
The crew’s material consisted only of one Pascual 1 amphora and one Dressel 7-11. There was also terra sigillata from the La Graufesenque workshops, whose decoration clearly places it in the second half of the 1st century AD; many of these pieces bear graffiti interpreted as ownership marks.
Ballast
Not reported.
Anchors
Not reported.
Guns
Not applicable.
Iron concretions
Not reported.
Hull Remains
The preserved hull is 7.75 m long and 3.2 m wide, with the keel, the stem, 14 strakes and the framing (Figure 1).
Keel, keelson and mast step
The keel has a preserved length of 4.80 m, a width of 20 cm and a very small height of 6 cm (Figure 2), which immediately recalls that of the Cap del Vol wreck. The use of oak (Quercus) for the keel makes the Baie de l’Amitié another of the rare examples of wrecks in which this wood was used for this purpose. The keel apparently has no rabbet, unlike the stem, which has deep grooves in its rabbet. The stem is 2.50 m long and 8.30 cm high, with a width varying from 22 to 25 cm. The scarf joining it to the keel is not at all complex; it is a simple joint by a tenon, which led the excavators to ask whether a false keel or shoe that stiffened the joint might be missing (Wicha 2010: 141), as suggested by a hole for a peg at the level of the joint and the remains of 8 nails on the underside of the stem (Figure 3).
Figure 2. Section at the keel, showing that its thickness is small compared with that of the garboard strakes; it may have suffered erosion (after Wicha 2010: 147).
The mast step was not preserved, but the notches for fixing it to the framing were. These are triangular and are cut facing each other on a series of floor timbers between M3 and M13. There is one notch at each of the angles formed by the upper face of the floor timber with its side faces, so they are symmetrical but inversely placed (Figures 1 and 4). Floor timber M3, which had a bolt joining it to the keel, had only one of these triangular notches. According to data from the first excavation of the wreck, the mast step should have been about 2.5 m long. The foot of the mast would have been in a forward position, between floor timbers M2 and M9. No keelson is reported.
Figure 3. Top view of the assembly of keel, stem and garboard strakes, with detail of the simple heel or tenon joint between the keel and the stem; quille = keel, étrave = stem, galbord = garboard, ribord = second strake (after Wicha 2010: 148).
Frames
The framing consists of 27 preserved frames, with an average sided dimension of 10 cm, moulded dimensions of 17–23 cm and a room-and-space (malla) of 17–23 cm (Jézégou 2003: 28). They show the classic alternation of floor timbers (11) and half-frames (12), plus four damaged pieces that could not be identified. From M1 to M9 floor timbers and half-frames alternate; from M9 to M13 there are only floor timbers, with triangular notches to house a mast step that was not preserved; from M14 onwards the alternation presumably resumes. The floor timbers are centred on either side of the keel (except M10, M18 and M20, which are asymmetrical); over the keel they are higher and have a triangular profile, creating a level upper surface for the hold. In the area of the stem they are no more than wooden chocks. Where they meet the keel they have one or two limber holes. In floor timbers with only one, it is roughly semicircular, practically rectangular with a rounded top, as in the Giraglia 2.
The half-frames are completely centred over the keel, and their limber holes are asymmetrical and seem to have been cut after these frames were put in place (Wicha 2010: 143). Floor timbers M1 and M3, located on either side of the scarf between the stem and the keel, have at their centre a vertical copper bolt, 2 cm in diameter, joining the two timbers, surely to reinforce the assembly. For Wicha this would be an indication of an active frame (cuaderna activa) (2010: 143).
The frames were fastened to the hull by internal lashings locked by treenails, alternating rhythmically and regularly with single treenails about 20 cm apart, as seen in the whole series of wrecks belonging to an architectural signature that might allow their building yards to be attributed to the Catalan and Provençal coasts. The lashings fasten the frame to the hull; a groove joining the two holes, 5 cm apart, is cut in the upper face of the frames to protect the stitching, but this has not been observed on the outer face of the strakes. Resin was used to improve watertightness, as seen in other wrecks with the same fastening technique, such as the Cap del Vol. The fastening treenails, about 16.3 cm long and of truncated-cone shape, were driven from the outside of the hull, with some reinforcing pegs. There are also nails, above all at the level of the garboard strake.
Figure 4. Three top views and sections of floor timbers of the Baie de l’Amitié, showing a flat profile in the first two and a more angular one, with a triangular notch for the mast step, in the third, which indicates the forward position of the mast. The limber holes, rectangular with a semicircular top, are centred over the keel (after Wicha 2010: 148).
Planking
The surviving hull fragment has planking strakes (also of Quercus) 14 to 24 cm wide, with an average thickness of 4.5 cm, except for the garboard strake. The width of each plank is constant along its length, except for the first and second strakes. The edge-joining by punicana coagmenta uses mortises with an average width of 6 cm, a thickness of 7–8 mm and a depth of 4–5 cm. The tenons (Quercus ilex) are 5.4 cm wide, and the locking pegs have a truncated-cone profile with diameters of 1 to 1.5 cm.
The garboard strake (Quercus) is unusual in having the same thickness of 6 cm as the keel, which in the author’s view means that the axial backbone of the Baie de l’Amitié is formed jointly by the keel and these strakes. The width of the garboard strakes decreases from 25 cm and 21 cm in the central part of the wreck to 10 cm in the area of the bow. In the keel, the mortises for joining the garboard strakes are staggered when seen from above. The joint is reinforced by nails driven obliquely into the outer (or lower) side face.
At the level of the joint with the stem, the garboard strakes no longer have the metal nails reinforcing their joint with the keel, and they take on a twisted shape to produce the angles of the hull. The underside of the garboard strake is bevelled to reduce its thickness from the side face in contact with the keel to the side face in contact with the second strake, which has the same thickness as the other planking strakes. The first and second strakes have the same widths, about 20 cm.
Ceiling, thick stuff, and wales
Of the internal longitudinal timbers, only three stringers are preserved, fastened to the frames with nails and conical pegs. They have equal widths of 23 cm and a thickness of 5 cm.
Caulking
Not reported. Resin was used to seal the lashing holes (see Frames).
Size and scantlings
The ship had an estimated maximum length of 20 m and a burden of 90 t. Its architectural type, with a flat bottom and a keel wider than it is high, suggests navigation in lagoon or fluvio-maritime waters, which matches the palaeo-landscape of the Iberian coast from the Gulf of Valencia northwards to the mouth of the Rhône.
Table 1. Scantling of the timber remains of the Baie de l’Amitié Shipwreck
| Timber | Sided [cm] | Molded [cm] |
| Keel | 20 | 6 |
| Stem | 22–25 | 8.3 |
| Keelson | – | – |
| Maststep Mortise | – – | – – |
| Buttresses | – | – |
| Floor timbers | 10 (avg.) | 17–23 |
| Futtocks | – | – |
| Room-and-space At central frames | 17–23 | |
| Planking Garboard | 14–24 10–25 | 4.5 (avg.) 6 |
| Ceiling (stringers) | 23 | 5 |
| Main mast Ø Chock | – – | – – |
Frame dimensions are averages/ranges for all frames (Jézégou 2003: 28). Planking: sided = width, moulded = thickness. The mast step was not preserved; its length is estimated at c. 2.5 m.
Wood
Keel, planking, garboard strakes: oak (Quercus). Tenons: holm oak (Quercus ilex). According to the legend of the plan (Figure 1), the frames are of various species: deciduous oak (Quercus), elm (Ulmus), plane (Platanus), ash (Fraxinus), beech (Fagus), walnut (Juglans), Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis) and pear (Pyrus); the stem appears to be of sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus).
Bibliography
Jézégou, M.-P. 2003. [Full reference to be completed.]
Wicha, S. 2010. Caractérisation d’un groupe d’épaves antiques de Méditerranée présentant un assemblage des membrures par ligatures végétales: approche architecturale et paléobotanique. Saarbrücken (doctoral thesis, Université de Provence, Aix-en-Provence, 2005).