Gela 2, c. 425 BC
Country: Italy
Place: Off Gela (Sicily), about 800 m from the coast and 1 km from the Gela 1 wreck, at a depth of 6 m
Coordinates (approximate): 37.06, 14.28
Type: Greek merchant ship
Identified: No
Dated: c. 425 BC (Panvini 1989: 81).
Beam: Unknown.
Keel Length: Unknown.
Length Overall: Unknown; probably similar to Gela 1 (estimated at 17 m).
Number of Masts: Unknown.
History of the wreck
The second Archaic Greek wreck of Gela was discovered in 1990. It sank around 425 BC (Panvini 1989: 81), when the ship was heading for Gela. The first work on the site was carried out by F. Faccenna in 1995 (1997: 143).
In summary, this is a ship whose central part of the hull is preserved, assembled by mortise-and-tenon joints. The frames have lost the narrow lower shape typical of ships such as the Jules Verne 7, Jules Verne 9 or Grand Ribaud F, and have a slightly rounded section. They are fastened to the hull by nails, and again square limber holes can be seen (Figure 2), which indicates a way of making the frames almost identical to that of the sewn Greek ships. Its angular or pinched bottom represents a more advanced stage of shipbuilding than the Jules Verne 7.
Description of the site
The wreck lies on a sand and gravel bottom in shallow water, at a depth of 6 m, about 800 m from the coast and one kilometre from the Gela 1 wreck. At the time of excavation the ship was covered by a layer of stones of irregular size (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Axonometric view of the Gela 2 ship (after Benini 2001).
Cargo
Not reported.
Ballast
The stones covering the ship formed a ballast made up of several groups, interpreted as fill added after trading operations to keep the ship stable. The ballast (interpreted as such by analogy with Gela 1 and Ma’agan Mikhael) lay directly on the hull and was up to 1.5 m thick.
Anchors
Not reported.
Guns
Not applicable.
Iron concretions
Not reported. Iron nails, together with many copper nails, fasten the framing to the planking.
Hull Remains
The central part of the hull is preserved, with 14 planking strakes and the framing; the keel was displaced from the hull (Figure 1).
Keel, keelson and mast step
The ship lies on the seabed without its keel, which is displaced from the hull, perhaps by the impact of the wreck. Its identification raises some doubts: it has a square section and was joined to the hull by mortises and tenons. It does not seem to have a rabbet, nor does the keel of the Ma’agan Mikhael. In the excavators’ opinion it may have been a shoe or false keel, but its height of 18 cm is much greater than the false keels documented in the Ma’agan Mikhael and the Kyrenia, which were 5 cm high. It has been speculated that it could be a keelson, although its displacement and position under some of the planking strakes make interpretation very difficult, as does the absence of any notch for seating it over the frames (or marks on them), unlike in the Gela 1 and the Ma’agan Mikhael.
Frames
The frames were widely spaced, with a room-and-space (malla) of between 60 and 70 cm. The floor timbers were made of two pieces (the lower one being the heel, Figure 1), as is also seen in floor timber no. 19 of the Marsala wreck. In the author’s opinion, the shape of the floor timbers strengthens the ship’s backbone, with the reinforcement of the garboard strakes (which literally rest on the heels under lateral stresses).
There are many copper nails in the wreck, together with iron ones, fastening the framing to the planking strakes. The floor timbers are about 50 cm moulded and have a pronounced heel, so that, together with the arrangement of the planks that should have been joined to the keel, they show that the bottom of the hull had very angular or pinched lines, with a large lateral plane. The frames have square limber holes (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Sections of the floor timbers of the Gela 2 wreck (after Benini 2001).
Planking
The presumed garboard strakes are not preserved complete, and they may have been damaged when the keel was torn away. The excavation campaign exposed 14 strakes of the hull, joined by mortises and tenons locked by pegs, the mortises being regularly spaced every 20 cm. The strakes were between 25 and 30 cm wide and 4.5 cm thick.
Between floor timbers 2 and 3 of the Gela 2, a section of the seam between the garboard strake and the second strake was observed in which mortises and tenons had not been used, but sewing, similar to that documented in the Jules Verne 7. This may be interpreted as part of the beginning of the end of the ship, as documented in the Grand Ribaud F, although there are no precise data on the type of assembly at the stem or sternpost. It has also been suggested that the sewing may be related to a repair, possibly because the builders were not culturally familiar with repairs to punicana coagmenta.
Some carpenter’s marks were recorded on the strakes: two crosses near a peg, and a simple line right at the position of one of the lost floor timbers, surely marking its position for a carpenter after the hull had been assembled.
Ceiling, thick stuff, and wales
Not reported. A stanchion of field maple and a beam of holm oak were found (see Wood).
Caulking
After floor timbers 3 and 4, small, very deteriorated lead plates nailed to the strakes were found, interpreted as part of a repair and not as sheathing.
Size and scantlings
A comparison of the dimensions of the floor timbers of the Gela 2 and the Gela 1 (whose length is estimated at 17 m) seems to indicate that the second ship was of similar size. The floor timbers are about 50 cm moulded, the room-and-space is 60–70 cm, and the planking is 4.5 cm thick.
Table 1. Scantling of the timber remains of the Gela 2 Shipwreck
| Timber | Sided [cm] | Molded [cm] |
| Keel (or false keel) | – | 18 |
| Keelson | – | – |
| Maststep Mortise | – – | – – |
| Buttresses | – | – |
| Floor timbers | – | c. 50 |
| Futtocks | – | – |
| Room-and-space At central frames | 60–70 | |
| Planking | 25–30 | 4.5 |
| Ceiling | – | – |
| Main mast Ø Chock | – – | – – |
The identification of the 18 cm-high timber as the keel is uncertain. Planking: sided = width, moulded = thickness.
Wood
The planking strakes are of black pine (Pinus nigra) and the tenons of holm oak (Quercus ilex). A stanchion of field maple (Acer campestre) and a beam of holm oak (Quercus ilex) are noteworthy.
Bibliography
Benini, A. 2001. The second wreck at Gela: notes on naval architecture. In R. Panvini, The Archaic Greek Ship at Gela, 97–106. Palermo.
Faccenna, F. 1997. Indagini preliminari sul secondo relitto di Gela (“Gela II”). In Atti del Convegno nazionale di archeologia subacquea (Anzio 1996), 143–146. Bari: Edipuglia.
Panvini, R. 1989. [Full reference to be completed.]