Cap Bénat, 1st century BC
Country: France
Place: Cap Bénat, near Hyères (Var), at a depth of 48 m
Coordinates (approximate): 43.09, 6.37
Type: Small coastal trading vessel with dolia
Identified: No
Dated: 1st century BC, based on the Dressel 1C amphorae and the Campanian A and C black-glaze ware.
Beam: Unknown.
Keel Length: Unknown; 4 m preserved.
Length Overall: Estimated at no more than 8 m (Joncheray 1997: 105).
Number of Masts: Unknown.
History of the wreck
The Cap Bénat wreck lies off the cape of the same name, near Hyères (France). It was discovered in 1976 and excavated by Joncheray in 1993. Its main cargo consisted of three dolia, together with Dressel 1C amphorae and Campanian A and C ware, which date the wreck to the 1st century BC. The hull remains are very poorly preserved.1
Analysing the wood species used to build the small Cap Bénat, the excavator noted the absence of species such as elm or oak and, as an open question, related this wreck to a construction more typical of southern Europe.
Description of the site
The wreck lies at a depth of 48 m. The cargo2 protected the timber remains of the hull. Only 4 m of length survive, with a maximum width of no more than 1 m. Sixteen frames, eight fragments of strakes and remains of transverse ceiling planks are visible (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Plan of the small coastal vessel with dolia of Cap Bénat. The arrangement of the treenails fastening the frames is striking, recalling the pairs of treenails that lock internal lashings (after Joncheray 1997: 106–107).
Cargo
The main cargo consisted of three dolia, together with Dressel 1C amphorae and Campanian A and C ware.
Ballast
Over the dunnage of vine shoots and the transverse ceiling lay a ballast of various kinds of limestone and schist, with a complete absence of volcanic stones, together with fragments of Dressel 1A, Dressel 1C, Graeco-Italic and Massaliot amphorae.
Anchors
Not reported.
Guns
Not applicable.
Iron concretions
Not reported. No metal nails reinforce the keel–garboard joint.
Hull Remains
Only 4 m of the hull survive, with a maximum width of 1 m: the keel, 16 frames, eight fragments of strakes and remains of transverse ceiling planks (Figure 1).
Keel, keelson and mast step
The keel of this small vessel, of stone pine (Pinus pinea L.), has a preserved length of 4 m, a height of 10 cm and a width of 8.5 cm. It has a smooth bevelled rabbet, which indicates that this is a section of the central part of the hull, neither bow nor stern being preserved. The mortises show a variation in the angle at which the tenons, and therefore the garboard strake, leave the keel, which changes from 45° to the horizontal (frame 3, section 1) to 10° (frame 10, section 2) and back to 40° (frame 16, section 3) (Figure 2). This indicates that this coastal vessel would not have exceeded 8 m in length (Joncheray 1997: 105). The mortises joining the keel to the garboard strakes (Pinus pinea L.) are 4 to 5 cm wide and spaced 3 to 6 cm apart; the tenons are 5 to 6 cm deep and 0.5 to 0.7 cm thick. The pegs were driven from inside, through the upper face of the keel, without any reinforcing metal nails.
Figure 2. Sections showing the change in the bevelled rabbet along the keel (after Joncheray 1997: 106).
Frames
The frames (Pinus pinea L. and Pinus halepensis L.) are spaced 21 cm apart, with a clear alternation of floor timbers and half-frames. The framing is rather weak, with moulded dimensions of 5.5 to 6.5 cm and sided dimensions of 5 to 6.5 cm. The frames are fastened to the hull only by wooden treenails (Abies alba L.). The maximum moulded dimension of the floor timbers over the keel does not exceed 13 cm. There are limber holes of triangular, rectangular and trapezoidal shape3 (Figure 3).
Figure 3. Shapes of the limber holes in the floor timbers of the Cap Bénat (after Joncheray 1997: 107).
Planking
The garboard strakes are only 2.6 cm thick; some fragments of the planking strakes (Pinus pinea L.) are 2.2 cm thick and between 16 and 25 cm wide. In one case two tenons (Quercus ilex L.) were found in the same mortise.
Ceiling, thick stuff, and wales
There is evidence of a ceiling of strakes parallel to the keel, but also of a removable transverse ceiling, with planks 2.2 cm thick, set between two longitudinal supports or bearers (Figure 4) (as in the Chrétienne C). Notably, this ceiling covers a dense dunnage (perhaps similar to that of the Cap del Vol) of vine shoots placed between the frames (Figure 5), which seems to have been intended to protect the floor timbers and the keel.
Figure 4. Drawing of a section of the transverse ceiling planks and proposed reconstruction (after Joncheray 1997: 109).
Figure 5. Top view of the transverse ceiling planks, which undoubtedly covered the vine shoots placed between the frames; these did not therefore protect the frames from the cargo, and their function was a different one (after Joncheray 1997: 109).
Caulking
Not reported.
Size and scantlings
The change in the angle of the garboard strakes along the preserved keel indicates a vessel no more than 8 m long (Joncheray 1997: 105). The framing is light, with frames of 5–6.5 × 5.5–6.5 cm spaced 21 cm apart, and planking only 2.2–2.6 cm thick.
Table 1. Scantling of the timber remains of the Cap Bénat Shipwreck
| Timber | Sided [cm] | Molded [cm] |
| Keel | 8.5 | 10 |
| Keelson | – | – |
| Maststep Mortise | – – | – – |
| Buttresses | – | – |
| Floor timbers | 5–6.5 | 5.5–6.5 13 (max. over keel) |
| Futtocks | – | – |
| Room-and-space At central frames | 21 | |
| Planking Garboard | 16–25 – | 2.2 2.6 |
| Ceiling (transverse planks) | – | 2.2 |
| Main mast Ø Chock | – – | – – |
Frame dimensions are ranges for all frames (floor timbers and half-frames). Planking: sided = width, moulded = thickness.
Wood
Keel, garboard strakes and planking: stone pine (Pinus pinea L.). Frames: stone pine (Pinus pinea L.) and Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis L.). Treenails: silver fir (Abies alba L.). Tenons: holm oak (Quercus ilex L.).
Bibliography
Joncheray, J.-P. 1997. Bénat 2, une épave à dolia du premier siècle avant J.-C. Cahiers d’Archéologie Subaquatique 13: 97–136.
Notes
1 The inclusion of a wreck with such meagre remains is justified by its date: although of the 1st century BC, its construction lacks the most characteristic features of the ships of the Republican architectural family, as also seen in other cases such as the Jarre 4 or Miladou wrecks. This could be related to its short length and therefore to the nautical space in which it sailed.
2 Despite its cargo of three dolia, this wreck does not belong to the group of bulk-wine ships such as the Ladispoli, Diano Marina, Giraglia 1 and 2, among others, essentially because of its burden and displacement.
3 Presumably centred over the keel, although this is not specified in the published work.