Dramont I, 1st century AD
Country: France
Place: South-west of the Île d’Or, near Saint-Raphaël (Var), at a depth of 31–33 m
Coordinates (approximate): 43.41, 6.84
Type: Roman merchant ship (marble carrier)
Identified: No
Dated: 1st century AD, based only on a few fragments of Dressel 20 and Dressel 7-11 amphorae.
Beam: Unknown.
Keel Length: Unknown.
Length Overall: Unknown.
Number of Masts: Unknown.
History of the wreck
The Dramont I wreck was excavated by the Joncherays between 1992 and 1993. Its date, based on the material carried (three huge blocks of marble from Asia Minor), is somewhat imprecise: the 1st century, based only on the presence of a few fragments of Dressel 20 and Dressel 7-11 amphorae.
Description of the site
The wreck lies at a depth of 31–33 m south-west of the Île d’Or, near Saint-Raphaël (France). The remains of the hull are limited: a fragment of the side, unconnected with two sections of the backbone. In the eastern part of the site 8.5 × 3 m of the hull are preserved, with 11 planking strakes, two of them wales, 34 frames and part of the ceiling (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Plan of the main part of the Dramont I wreck (after Joncheray and Joncheray 1997: 176).
Cargo
The ship carried three huge blocks of marble from Asia Minor, a small cargo of pumice (which did not float) and a few tens of kilos of corundum (Joncheray and Joncheray 1997), a mineral perhaps carried as raw gemstones, abundant in Greece and Turkey. A few fragments of Dressel 20 and Dressel 7-11 amphorae were also found.
Ballast
Not reported.
Anchors
Not reported.
Guns
Not applicable.
Iron concretions
Not reported.
Hull Remains
The hull remains consist of a fragment of the side, 8.5 × 3 m, with 11 strakes (two of them wales), 34 frames and part of the ceiling, and two unconnected sections of the backbone (Figures 1 and 3).
Keel, keelson and mast step
As for the portion of keel and garboard strakes, very poorly preserved, the publication states that 23 cm of the keel survived, of trapezoidal section, with simple bevelled rabbets. It measured 26 cm in height (Figure 2, left), 18 cm at its base and 21 cm at its upper face between the rabbets. Next to the keel the two garboard strakes, 5 cm thick, were preserved. A 19.5 cm section of stem or sternpost was also found, trapezoidal in shape, 29.6 cm high, 22.8 cm wide at its upper face and 15.8 cm wide at its base, the latter with a rounded profile. It has a pronounced notched rabbet (Figure 2, right) to house the garboard strakes. In the joint between these pieces some tenons can be seen that are not locked by pegs to the keel. The garboard strakes were fastened to the stem or sternpost by metal nails placed every 6 cm, regardless of the position of the mortises.
Figure 2. Sections of the two excavated portions of keel. The first has a bevelled rabbet; the second, possibly part of the stem or sternpost, has a notched rabbet (after Joncheray and Joncheray 1997: 168–169).
Figure 3. Plans of the two assemblages of hull timbers in which part of the keel and the garboard strakes are preserved (after Joncheray and Joncheray 1997: 185–187).
Frames
The framing consists of frames up to 17 cm moulded and 10 cm sided on average, with a room-and-space (malla) of 15 cm. The best-preserved frame section reaches 2 m in length. A review of the plan and a comparison with that of the Albufereta 1 wreck lead the author to state that the alternation observed between one-piece and two-piece frames is almost certainly due to an alternation of floor timbers and half-frames over the keel (an area not preserved), whose extensions are what survive in the Dramont I. The moulded dimension of the framing increases slightly towards the south-west, which would support this interpretation. The excavators note that between M14 and M15 there is an unnumbered frame section that could be a reinforcement.1
The framing is fastened to the hull by treenails of holm oak (Quercus ilex). Although the use of nails driven from the outside of the hull is mentioned (Joncheray and Joncheray 1997: 184), presumably blind nails, this is not shown in the sections drawn (Joncheray and Joncheray 1997: 181), except in the case of M29 (Figure 4). Notably, the density of treenails is greater in the sections of the frames with greater curvature, surely related to the turn of the bilge and the stresses in this area, as can be seen in the section of M16 (Joncheray and Joncheray 1997: 181). The treenails that coincide with the two wales (Larix europaea) were not driven right through these planks.
Figure 4. Cross-sections of the portion of hull of the Dramont I, showing the shape of the bilge and the thickness of the two wales (after Joncheray and Joncheray 1997: 181).
Planking
The planking strakes (Pinus sylvestris) are substantial, 5 cm thick, with variable widths of up to 30 cm. There are up to four simple bevelled scarfs joining two lengths of the same strake. As for the tenons (Quercus ilex), the publication states that only one was measured (14 × 9 × 0.6 cm) and that their longitudinal axes are 18 cm apart. The pegs were made of ash (Fraxinus sp.) (Figure 5).
Figure 5. Two drawings of the mortises, tenons and pegs. In the section drawing the pegs appear cylindrical, which is unlikely (after Joncheray and Joncheray 1997: 190).
Ceiling, thick stuff, and wales
There are two wales, 10 and 16 cm thick respectively, the second being 42 cm wide (Figure 4). Over the framing there are remains of stringers and ceiling strakes (Pinus sylvestris), lightly nailed to the frames. The widest, 5 cm thick, contrast with the narrowest, 8 to 10 cm thick and with bevelled edges.
Caulking
Not reported.
Size and scantlings
No estimate of the ship’s dimensions is given. The thick planking (5 cm), the two heavy wales (10 and 16 cm thick), the keel of 18–21 × 26 cm and the frames of 10 × 17 cm at a tight room-and-space of 15 cm indicate a robust hull, suited to a cargo of heavy marble blocks.
Table 1. Scantling of the timber remains of the Dramont I Shipwreck
| Timber | Sided [cm] | Molded [cm] |
| Keel | 18–21 | 26 |
| Stem or sternpost | 15.8–22.8 | 29.6 |
| Keelson | – | – |
| Maststep Mortise | – – | – – |
| Buttresses | – | – |
| Frames | 10 (avg.) | 17 (max.) |
| Futtocks | – | – |
| Room-and-space At central frames | 15 | |
| Planking Garboard | up to 30 – | 5 5 |
| Wales | 42 (second wale) | 10 and 16 |
| Ceiling | – | 5; 8–10 |
| Main mast Ø Chock | – – | – – |
Keel: 18 cm wide at its base and 21 cm at its upper face. Planking, wales and ceiling: sided = width, moulded = thickness.
Wood
Planking and ceiling: Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris). Wales: European larch (Larix europaea). Tenons and treenails: holm oak (Quercus ilex). Tenon-locking pegs: ash (Fraxinus sp.).
Bibliography
Joncheray, A. and Joncheray, J.-P. 1997. Dramont I, description et étude de la coque d’une épave de marbres d’Asie Mineure du premier siècle après J.-C. Cahiers d’Archéologie Subaquatique 13: 165 ff.
Notes
1 The lack of a detailed plan does not allow the actual course of this piece to be determined from the treenails and/or nails, or whether it is instead related to M15.