Conque des Salins, AD 15–236
Country: France
Place: Étang de Thau (Hérault), 80 m from the shore, at a depth of less than 1 m
Coordinates (approximate): 43.42, 3.62
Type: Roman lagoon and fluvio-maritime vessel
Identified: No
Dated: AD 15–236 (radiocarbon; Jézégou 2011: 169).
Beam: Unknown.
Keel Length: Unknown.
Length Overall: Estimated at 15 m (Rouquette et al. 2004: 39).
Number of Masts: One, stepped in a transverse mast step.
History of the wreck
The discovery of the Conque des Salins wreck was reported to the authorities in 1998. It was excavated by Rouquette, Jézégou and Wicha in 1999 (Rouquette et al. 2004: 35). No associated cargo is known that would help to date it, apart from a few fragments of Dressel 20 amphorae. A series of radiocarbon analyses gave a very broad date range, AD 15–236 (Jézégou 2011: 169).
Although it was built for a fluvio-maritime nautical space, its length, estimated at 15 m, would have allowed it both to navigate the marshes and lagoons characteristic of the palaeo-landscape of the area and to cross the coastal sandbars to exchange goods with ships built for the open sea (Rouquette et al. 2004: 39).
Description of the site
The wreck lies at a depth of less than one metre, 80 m from the shore of the Étang de Thau,1 in Languedoc. The hull survives over a length of 7.7 m and a width of 2.2 m (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Plan of the Conque des Salins. The hull strake numbered 6 (V6) corresponds to the keel. The transverse mast step can be seen next to frame no. 2 (plan drawing by François, after Rouquette et al. 2004: 36).
Cargo
No cargo is known, apart from a few fragments of Dressel 20 amphorae.
Ballast
Not reported.
Anchors
Not reported.
Guns
Not applicable.
Iron concretions
Not reported.
Hull Remains
The hull survives over a length of 7.7 m and a width of 2.2 m, with the keel, ten planking strakes and five frames (one of them surviving only as an impression) (Figures 1 and 2).
Figure 2. Sections of the Conque des Salins (drawing by Damon, after Jézégou 2011: 173).
Keel, keelson and mast step
The keel (Figure 3) is very flat, only 9 cm high at its end and only 5 cm (the same as the garboard strake) in the central part of the hull. It is not a single timber, but consists of two lengths joined by a bevelled scarf, of elm (Ulmus) for the length near the stem and of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) for the rest. Its width, 19 cm, is similar to that of the other strakes, and it has no rabbet at all, so the garboard strakes, of rectangular section, meet the keel at right angles. An external lead reinforcement, acting as a sheathing or shoe, protected the bow of the vessel, fastened by blind nails. Its shape and thickness allowed the excavators to relate it to the Cap del Vol wreck.
Frame no. 2, the only floor timber preserved, serves as a transverse mast step, being joined to another piece by wooden treenails 2.2 cm in diameter (Figure 1), creating a mortise for the foot of a mast. Transverse mast steps of this type are common in vessels navigating fluvio-maritime waters (Rouquette et al. 2004: 38).
Figure 3. Section of the flat keel of the Conque des Salins (drawing by Gassend, after Rouquette et al. 2004: 37).
Frames
The framing, all of oak (Quercus sp.), has frames 12 to 14 cm sided, fastened to the hull by wooden treenails at a rate of one or two per planking strake. The room-and-space (malla) was 80 to 96 cm (Figure 1). Frame no. 5 has disappeared, leaving only its impression in the layer of resin applied inside the hull once it was completed. Frame no. 4 is formed of two lengths joined by a bevelled scarf, as in the Sant Jordi 1 wreck; the same technique is seen in frame no. 1. Frame no. 2, the only floor timber preserved, acts as a transverse mast step (see above); at the level of the third planking strake it is extended to the bilge by a toothed scarf. There are limber holes of square section in frames 1 and 2, which are more central in the hull, and none in the others, nearer the end of the vessel. The framing was occasionally nailed, without any system, where it coincided with the keel.
Planking
The ten planking strakes (Pinus sylvestris and Pinus nigra) vary in width from 14 to 36 cm, most being between 18 and 21 cm; they become wider towards the mast step, especially nos. 3 and 4, which measure 32 and 36 cm respectively. Lengths of plank in the same strake are joined by simple bevelled scarfs. The strakes are 3.4 cm thick towards the sides and 4.6 cm towards the keel. The tenons (Quercus ilex) are trapezoidal and locked by pegs, with an average spacing of 14 to 20 cm. The dimensions of the mortises (5.5 to 10 cm wide, 5 to 9 cm deep and 0.7 to 1.5 cm thick) and of the tenons (4.5 to 9 cm wide, 10 to 18 cm long and 0.5 to 0.9 cm thick) vary enormously. The pegs were faceted with eight faces, of truncated-cone profile (minimum diameters 0.85–1.2 cm and maximum 1.1–1.6 cm), and were driven indiscriminately from inside and outside the hull. In several strakes repair tenons could be seen, like those documented in other wrecks (Tour Fondue, Saint Barthélémy or Kyrenia), indicating the replacement of planking strakes.2
Ceiling, thick stuff, and wales
Not reported.
Caulking
There is a thick layer of pitch on the inner face of the hull, which makes it difficult to see the seams between the strakes and the position of the pegs. The impression of frame no. 5 survives in the layer of resin applied inside the hull once it was completed.
Size and scantlings
The vessel’s length is estimated at 15 m. Its very flat keel (19 × 5 cm in the centre), without rabbet, the wide room-and-space (80–96 cm) and the transverse mast step are characteristic of a vessel for lagoon and fluvio-maritime navigation.
Table 1. Scantling of the timber remains of the Conque des Salins Shipwreck
| Timber | Sided [cm] | Molded [cm] |
| Keel | 19 | 5 (centre) 9 (end) |
| Keelson | – | – |
| Maststep (transverse) Mortise | – – | – – |
| Buttresses | – | – |
| Frames | 12–14 | – |
| Futtocks | – | – |
| Room-and-space At central frames | 80–96 | |
| Planking | 14–36 (mostly 18–21) | 3.4–4.6 |
| Ceiling | – | – |
| Main mast Ø Chock | – – | – – |
Planking: sided = width, moulded = thickness; the strakes are thicker towards the keel.
Wood
Keel: elm (Ulmus) near the stem and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) for the rest. Planking: Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) and black pine (Pinus nigra). Frames: oak (Quercus sp.). Tenons: holm oak (Quercus ilex).
Bibliography
Jézégou, M.-P. 2011. [Full reference to be completed.]
Rouquette, D., Jézégou, M.-P. and Wicha, S. 2004. Épave Conque des Salins (étang de Thau, DRASSM 17/98). Bilan scientifique du DRASSM 1999, 35–39. Paris.
Notes
1 This is a vessel built mainly for a lagoon nautical space, which the author has included in this work in view of later conclusions on the shape of the keels of ancient ships.
2 The details of the technique used are not known, which would show whether it is related to that of the Cap del Vol or of the Barthélémy B.