Cape Gelidonya, c. 1240–1200 BC
Country: Turkey
Place: Cape Gelidonya, southern coast of Turkey, at a depth of 27 m
Coordinates (approximate): 36.20, 30.40
Type: Late Bronze Age merchant ship
Identified: No
Dated: Second half of the 13th or beginning of the 12th century BC, c. 1240–1200 BC (Gale 1991: 204).
Beam: Unknown.
Keel Length: Unknown.
Length Overall: Estimated by Bass at 12.19 m (40 ft).
Number of Masts: Unknown.
History of the wreck
The Cape Gelidonya wreck is of great importance in the historiography of underwater archaeology: it was here that Professor George Bass first developed the methodology for underwater archaeological excavation, in 1960 (Bass 1967). The wreck was found in 1954, and its excavation began six years later on the initiative of Peter Throckmorton, under the direction of George F. Bass and Frédéric Dumas.
The wreck is interpreted as a ship that was collecting raw metal and scrap. Bass does not rule out that the ship carried a smith among its crew, and in his hypothesis this cargo represents the private venture of a Levantine merchant that ended at Cape Gelidonya at the end of the 13th century BC, especially if Cyprus is considered part of the Levant (Bass 1991: 74). Other authors, however (Maddin et al. 1974: 25), consider that the ship exemplifies an organised commercial enterprise.
Description of the site
The wreck lies at a depth of 27 m, on a rocky seabed with clear water (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Location of the Uluburun and Cape Gelidonya wrecks on the southern coast of Turkey.
Cargo
As in the Uluburun wreck, the goods were very varied and had been carefully stowed in the ship. The main cargo was copper, comprising 39 oxhide ingots (34 complete and 5 broken), most of them with incised marks, as well as many fragments of such ingots. There were also bun-shaped ingots (galápagos): 12 complete, 8 almost complete and 9 halves, together with numerous fragments. In addition, 19 bar ingots were recovered, arranged in rows of 3 or 4 ingots each. The presence of 8 kg of a white powder (tin oxide) on the wreck may represent the remains of tin ingots that have not survived.
Bronze weapons were also found, such as daggers and knives, all broken, together with many other bronze objects such as bracelets and tripods, perhaps intended for recasting, since they were found broken and incomplete in wicker baskets. They were accompanied by a chisel, a punch, a small bronze anvil, three stones used as anvils and two stone hammers, which suggests that this was a smith’s equipment, perhaps of Cypriot origin. Picks, shovels, hoes, ploughshares, axes and adzes were also recorded.
The ship carried a cylinder seal of Syrian origin, which is attributed to the merchant responsible for the transactions. There were also scarabs, an undetermined number of ceramic storage jars, some containing terebinth resin for perfumes, and other Cypriot, Syrian and Mycenaean pottery, sets of balance-pan weights, fragments of glass paste, necklace beads, food remains, etc.
Ballast
Not reported.
Anchors
Not reported.
Guns
Not applicable.
Iron concretions
Not applicable.
Hull Remains
The surviving remains of the ship’s structure are extremely scarce: only a tenon with a hole for the passage of a peg (Pulak 1999: 214) (Figure 2). According to the excavators, however, it shows that the method of joining the strakes was the same as in the Uluburun wreck.
Keel, keelson and mast step
Not preserved.
Frames
Unlike the Uluburun, there is evidence of frames in this ship (Pomey and Rieth 2005: 158).
Planking
The only surviving element is a tenon pierced for a locking peg (Figure 2), which indicates that the strakes were edge-joined with pegged mortise-and-tenon joints, as on the Uluburun ship.
Figure 2. Tenon from the Cape Gelidonya wreck (photo: Texas A&M University).
Ceiling, thick stuff, and wales
Not preserved.
Caulking
Not reported.
Size and scantlings
On the basis of the size of the surviving tenon compared with those of the Uluburun wreck, Professor Bass estimated the length of the ship at 12.19 m (40 ft).
Table 1. Scantling of the timber remains of the Cape Gelidonya Shipwreck
| Timber | Sided [cm] | Molded [cm] |
| Keel | – | – |
| Keelson | – | – |
| Maststep Mortise | – – | – – |
| Buttresses | – | – |
| Floor timbers | – | – |
| Futtocks | – | – |
| Room-and-space At central frames | – | |
| Planking | – | – |
| Ceiling | – | – |
| Main mast Ø Chock | – – | – – |
No timber dimensions are reported.
Wood
Not reported.
Bibliography
Bass, G. F. 1967. Cape Gelidonya: A Bronze Age Shipwreck. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 57.8. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society.
Bass, G. F. 1991. Evidence of trade from Bronze Age shipwrecks. In N. H. Gale (ed.), Bronze Age Trade in the Mediterranean, 69–82. Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology 90. Jonsered: Paul Åströms Förlag.
Gale, N. H. 1991. Copper oxhide ingots: their origin and their place in the Bronze Age metals trade in the Mediterranean. In N. H. Gale (ed.), Bronze Age Trade in the Mediterranean, 197–239. Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology 90. Jonsered: Paul Åströms Förlag.
Maddin, R. et al. 1974. [Full reference to be completed.]
Pomey, P. and Rieth, E. 2005. L’archéologie navale. Paris: Errance.
Pulak, C. 1999. The Late Bronze Age shipwreck at Uluburun: aspects of hull construction. In W. Phelps, Y. Lolos and Y. Vichos (eds), The Point Iria Wreck: Interconnections in the Mediterranean ca. 1200 BC, 209–238. Athens: Hellenic Institute of Marine Archaeology.