Cap Gros, late 2nd–mid-1st century BC
Country: France
Place: About 800 m south-east of the point of Cap Gros, Cap d’Antibes peninsula (Alpes-Maritimes), at a depth of 54 m
Coordinates (approximate): 43.54, 7.14
Type: Roman Republican merchant ship
Identified: No
Dated: Between the end of the 2nd century BC and the mid-1st century BC, based on the associated finds (Lamboglia 27c, ollae and an Emporitan truncated-cone vessel).
Beam: Unknown.
Keel Length: Unknown.
Length Overall: Unknown.
Number of Masts: Unknown.
History of the wreck
The site is very exposed to the winds and to a strong north-east/south-west current, which makes diving extremely difficult and dangerous. Nevertheless, ten years after its discovery in 1977 its cargo of Dressel 1B and 1C amphorae, about 500 of them, had already been removed by looters (Joncheray 1989: 63). A test excavation was carried out in 1987 and a planned excavation in 1989, with a trench more than 9 m long that uncovered part of the hull, with a heavy ballast (800 kg per m²) and the bilge pump still in situ. The archaeological material (Lamboglia 27c, ollae and an Emporitan truncated-cone vessel) has allowed the wreck to be dated between the end of the 2nd century BC and the middle of the 1st century BC.
Description of the site
The Cap Gros wreck lies at a depth of 54 m, about 800 m south-east of the point of Cap Gros, on the Cap d’Antibes peninsula (France). The ship lies on its side. The 1989 trench, more than 9 m long, uncovered part of the hull with the bilge pump in situ (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Plan of the excavation of the hull of the Cap Gros, with a cross-section at the centre of the trench (after Joncheray 1989: 72).
Cargo
The cargo consisted of Dressel 1B and 1C amphorae, about 500 of them, all removed by looters within ten years of the wreck’s discovery (Joncheray 1989: 63).
Ballast
A heavy ballast was found over the hull, about 800 kg per m².
Anchors
Not reported.
Guns
Not applicable.
Iron concretions
Not reported. The frames were fastened with square-section iron nails (see Frames).
Hull Remains
The excavated part of the hull includes the keel, planking, three floor timbers and two pairs of half-frames, longitudinal and transverse ceiling planks and the bilge pump in situ (Figures 1 and 2). The hull has strongly pinched lines.
Figure 2. Axonometric reconstruction of the excavated area, with the bilge pump (after Joncheray 1989: 77).
Keel, keelson and mast step
The keel was excavated, but the strongly pinched lines of the hull did not allow it to be observed and studied, since its upper face lay one metre below the surface of the seabed (Figure 1). Its upper face is 9.2 cm wide, and the garboard strakes form an angle of 38° in the area of the bilge pump.
Frames
In the excavated area the framing consists of three floor timbers and two pairs of half-frames (Pinus halepensis), fastened to the hull by olive-wood treenails (Olea europaea), which served as guide plugs for square-section metal nails, as observed and indicated by the authors (Figure 3). The room-and-space (malla) is 11.4 cm. Floor timber 01 is 36 cm moulded at its centre and 12 cm sided. It has a triangular limber hole set well above (about 10 cm) the upper face of the keel. There are nails fastening it to the hull, but none to the keel. No nails for fastening ceiling planks were observed on the upper face of the floor timber. Floor timber 02 is made in two pieces, the heel of the floor timber being joined to the main piece by a tenon. The following half-frames are placed on either side of the tubes of the bilge pump. At 9.5 cm moulded and 9–9.5 cm sided, they have a very square section, with a bevelled finish on the face towards the ship’s centreline. They have the blind points of at least three square-section nails driven from the outside of the hull, which contradicts the method seen in Figure 3.
Figure 3. Side views, upper and lower faces and sections of the framing timbers of the excavated part of the Cap Gros. The fastening consists of wooden treenails that acted as guides for square-section metal nails (after Joncheray 1989: 67).
Planking
The sections of the garboard strake and the second strake could not be determined. The third strake is 19.3 cm wide and 3.6 cm thick, and has traces of pitch on its inner face. The planking strakes (Pinus sylvestris) are very well preserved, although the ship lies on its side. In the excavated area the joint between two lengths of plank by a diagonal scarf was observed. The tenons, of olive wood (Olea europaea), are 5.5 to 6.5 cm wide, 8 to 8.5 cm deep and 0.6 cm thick (Figure 4). The locking pegs have diameters of 1.6 to 2 cm. The mortises are practically the exact size needed to house the tenons, and they are spaced 6 cm apart.
Figure 4. Views of a fragment of a hull strake from the Cap Gros wreck (after Joncheray 1989: 65).
Ceiling, thick stuff, and wales
In the excavated area there are longitudinal and transverse ceiling planks. The transverse ones are between 60 and 70 cm long and between 4.8 and 5.2 cm thick (Pinus halepensis) (Figure 1).
Caulking
Not reported. The third strake has traces of pitch on its inner face.
Size and scantlings
No estimate of the ship’s dimensions is given. The hull has strongly pinched lines, with the garboard strakes rising at 38° in the area of the bilge pump, robust floor timbers (36 × 12 cm at the centre of floor timber 01) and a tight room-and-space of 11.4 cm.
Table 1. Scantling of the timber remains of the Cap Gros Shipwreck
| Timber | Sided [cm] | Molded [cm] |
| Keel | 9.2 (upper face) | – |
| Keelson | – | – |
| Maststep Mortise | – – | – – |
| Buttresses | – | – |
| Floor timbers | 12 | 36 |
| Half-frames | 9–9.5 | 9.5 |
| Room-and-space At central frames | 11.4 | |
| Planking (third strake) | 19.3 | 3.6 |
| Ceiling (transverse planks) | – | 4.8–5.2 |
| Main mast Ø Chock | – – | – – |
Floor timber: dimensions of floor timber 01 at its centre. Planking and ceiling: sided = width, moulded = thickness.
Wood
Planking: Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris). Frames and transverse ceiling planks: Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis). Tenons and treenails: olive (Olea europaea).
Bibliography
Joncheray, J.-P. 1989. L’épave du Cap Gros. Matériel du Ier s. av. J.-C., pompe de cale en bois. Cahiers d’Archéologie Subaquatique 8: 57–84.