Chrétienne A, c. 75 BC
Country: France
Place: Near the Chrétienne beacon, off Anthéor, near Saint-Raphaël (Var), at a depth of 21 m
Coordinates (approximate): 43.42, 6.88
Type: Roman Republican merchant ship
Identified: No
Dated: c. 75 BC, based on the Oscan marks on the pozzolana stoppers of the amphorae (Desbat et al. 1987: 162).
Beam: Unknown.
Keel Length: Unknown.
Length Overall: Unknown.
Number of Masts: One mast step was recorded.
History of the wreck
The Chrétienne A wreck was discovered in 1948. It carried a cargo of about 2,000 Dressel 1B amphorae, dated c. 75 BC thanks to marks in the Oscan language1 on the pozzolana stoppers, with the names of the Pompeian Lassii (Desbat et al. 1987: 162). In 1961 and 1962 the wreck was the subject of a first study of its construction by Dumas, during which a Punic bronze coin from Pantelleria was found at the foot of the mast2 (Dumas 1964: 121; fig. 52). In 1986 and 1987 DRASM intervened on the wreck because of continuing looting (Pomey 1988: 42), leading to its restudy and to the sampling of its timbers in 1996 (Wicha et al. 1999).
The keel was fractured on its port side at the level of the joining mortises, and the port garboard strake had “flaked” in the same way. This indicates that the prominent keel received a strong impact, causing a rupture and therefore a leak, right at the joint (notched rabbet) of the tenons.
Description of the site
The wreck lies at a depth of 21 m around the Chrétienne beacon, off Anthéor, near the town of Saint-Raphaël. The Chrétienne A was in a good state of preservation under the sediment, although the mast step had disappeared and the hull had been damaged by a layer of stones that had filled the wreck, destroying the whole port side; only 5 m of length and 3.5 m of width of the hull remain (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Plan of the Chrétienne A (after Michel Rival, CCJ-CNRS, in Pomey 2002b: 17).
Cargo
About 2,000 Dressel 1B amphorae, with pozzolana stoppers bearing Oscan marks with the names of the Pompeian Lassii.
Ballast
Not reported.
Anchors
Not reported.
Guns
Not applicable.
Iron concretions
Not reported.
Hull Remains
The hull survives over 5 m of length and 3.5 m of width, with the keel, the starboard side and part of the framing; the port side was destroyed (Figure 1).
Keel, keelson and mast step
The keel is 20 cm high and up to 13 cm wide, with two rabbets with strong notches for the joint with the garboard strakes, which are of polygonal section and 6 cm thick. The keel is joined to the garboard strakes by a dense network of mortises spaced 4 cm apart, with tenons 6.5 cm wide, 17 cm deep and 0.9 cm thick, locked by pegs 1.1 cm in diameter. A nail was driven every c. 11.5 cm to improve the joint. Unlike the rest of the hull, which is entirely of Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis), the keel and the garboard strakes are of the same species, Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris). In the northern part of the site, which coincides with the bow, the keel preserves part of the trait de Jupiter (rayo de Júpiter) scarf for the joint with the end post (codaste), of beech (Fagus sylvatica), a fragment of which survives.
The mast step was described by Dumas (1964: 124, fig. 14; 1972: 158–172). It was 4.71 m long, of which 2.40 m were narrower (acting as a keelson), 24 cm wide and 27 cm high, the piece widening to 48 cm in the area of the mast foot, which was 2.31 m long. Its particularity is that the main mortise is joined to the lateral and front mortises for the boards securing the mast (Figure 2). The main mortise was 32 cm long and 21 cm wide, with a maximum depth of 15.5 cm. It contained a votive coin of Cossura, on the island of Pantelleria, dated between 217 BC and the first half of the 1st century BC.
Figure 2. Drawing of the mast step of the Chrétienne A (after Dumas 1964: 124, fig. 14).
Frames
Of the framing along the centreline only two half-frames (Quercus) remain, 10 cm sided and 9 cm moulded, together with several scattered and disconnected fragments of floor timbers (Quercus) up to 53 cm moulded, which indicate that the hull section was strongly pinched. The futtocks, by contrast, were in place. The framing is fastened to the hull by wooden treenails that served as guides for nails, which were bent over for a better hold; there is no fastening between the keel and the floor timbers.
Planking
The starboard side of the hull consists of some twenty strakes of Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis), some of them thicker, at 5.5 cm, compared with the average of 3.5 cm (Figure 3).
Figure 3. Cross-sections of the Chrétienne A wreck between frames M6/M7 and M8/M9 (drawing by Rival, CCJ-CNRS, after Pomey and Guibal 1997: 103).
Ceiling, thick stuff, and wales
Of the ceiling of the hold (Pinus halepensis, Pinus sylvestris and Abies alba), only some fragments of stringers 4 cm thick and of ceiling strakes 3 cm thick remained.
Caulking
Not reported.
Size and scantlings
No estimate of the ship’s dimensions is given. The strongly pinched hull section, the floor timbers up to 53 cm moulded and the keel of 13 × 20 cm characterise the surviving structure; the cargo of about 2,000 amphorae indicates a large merchant ship.
Table 1. Scantling of the timber remains of the Chrétienne A Shipwreck
| Timber | Sided [cm] | Molded [cm] |
| Keel | 13 (max.) | 20 |
| Keelson | – | – |
| Maststep Main mortise | 24–48 21 × 32 | 27 15.5 (depth) |
| Buttresses | – | – |
| Floor timbers | – | 53 (max.) |
| Half-frames | 10 | 9 |
| Room-and-space At central frames | – | |
| Planking Garboard | – – | 3.5 (avg.), 5.5 (max.) 6 |
| Ceiling Stringers Ceiling strakes | – – | 4 3 |
| Main mast Ø Chock | – – | – – |
The mast step was 4.71 m long: 2.40 m at 24 cm wide, widening to 48 cm over the 2.31 m of the mast-foot area. Planking and ceiling: sided = width, moulded = thickness.
Wood
Keel and garboard strakes: Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris). Planking: Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis). End post: beech (Fagus sylvatica). Frames: oak (Quercus). Ceiling: Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis), Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) and silver fir (Abies alba).
Bibliography
Carlson, D. N. 2007. Mast-step coins among the Romans. The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 36.2: 317–324.
Desbat, A. et al. 1987. [Full reference to be completed.]
Dumas, F. 1964. Épaves antiques. Introduction à l’archéologie sous-marine méditerranéenne. Paris: Maisonneuve et Larose.
Dumas, F. 1972. [Full reference to be completed.]
Pomey, P. 2002b. Remarques sur la faiblesse des quilles des navires antiques à retour de galbord. In L. Rivet and M. Sciallano (eds), Vivre, produire et échanger: reflets méditerranéens. Mélanges offerts à Bernard Liou, 11–19. Montagnac: Monique Mergoil.
Pomey, P., Long, L., L’Hour, M., Richez, F. and Bernard, H. 1988. Recherches sous-marines. Gallia Informations 1987–1988.1. Paris: CNRS.
Pomey, P. and Guibal, F. 1997. Dendrochronologie et dendromorphologie des épaves antiques de Méditerranée. Bilan scientifique du DRASSM 1996, 102–103. Paris.
Wicha, S., Guibal, F. and Pomey, P. 1999. Analyse des pièces de bois des épaves antiques Chrétienne A et Chrétienne C. Études dendromorphologique, xylologique et dendrochronologique. In Actes de la 7e Conférence du Groupe de travail Matériaux archéologiques organiques humides de l’ICOM-CC (Grenoble 1998), 317. Grenoble.
Notes
1 Oscan was an Indo-European language of the Italic group, spoken in south-central Italy during part of Antiquity.
2 Obverse: head of an Egyptian woman; reverse: Phoenician legend in a wreath (Carlson 2007: 319).