Ile Plane 4, c. 50 BC
Country: France
Place: Between the islands of Plane and Riou, closing the roadstead of Marseille to the south-east (Bouches-du-Rhône)
Coordinates (approximate): 43.19, 5.38
Type: Roman Republican merchant ship
Identified: No
Dated: c. 50 BC, based on the cargo, the similarities with Dramont A and Madrague de Giens, and pre-Arretine ware (Lequément and Liou 1976).
Beam: Unknown; similar to Cavalière.
Keel Length: Unknown.
Length Overall: Unknown; similar to Cavalière.
Number of Masts: One mast step was recorded.
History of the wreck
The Plane 4 wreck lies in the archipelago that closes the roadstead of Marseille to the south-east, between the islands of Plane and Riou (Pomey 2002b: 13). Discovered in 1975, it was the subject of a test excavation by DRASM, during which the mast step was recorded (Charlin, Gassend and Lequément 1978: 76); it had an Iberian votive coin of Kese in its main mortise (Liou and Pomey 1985: 556).1
The ship’s cargo and its similarities with the Dramont A and Madrague de Giens wrecks, together with the presence of pre-Arretine ware, suggest a date for this wreck of around 50 BC (Lequément and Liou 1976). It is a ship of the same dimensions and characteristics as the Cavalière wreck, so its length and burden are not remarkable.
In 1992 the central part of the site was reopened (Figure 1) within the research programme Dendrochronologie et dendromorphologie des épaves antiques de Méditerranée directed by Pomey and Guibal. The remains recorded were found to correspond to the area aft of the mast step, according to the notches in the floor timbers, so the mast step had disappeared. The study of the ship’s construction, not carried out until then, was begun, and the state of the remains showed the violence of the sinking.
Description of the site
The wreck lies between the islands of Plane and Riou. The central area of the site was reopened in 1992 (Figure 1).
Cargo
The cargo consisted of Dressel 1B amphorae (44 identified after looting) from the Tyrrhenian coast, Latium or Campania, all but three of which bore stamps applied before firing on their rims: ARTE, HERAC, METRON, NVN, PHILOX and SELEV (Lequément and Liou 1976). As a secondary cargo it carried Arretine red-gloss tableware, pieces from the Etrusco-Campanian coast, black-glaze ware from the Adriatic coast and Dressel 2 lamps, two of them with the mark N on the base, matching one found on the Dramont A (Santamaria 1975).
Ballast
Not reported.
Anchors
Not reported.
Guns
Not applicable.
Iron concretions
Not reported.
Hull Remains
The remains recorded in 1992 correspond to the area aft of the mast step. The ceiling was in fairly good condition, while the framing was somewhat disarranged. The triangular shape of the floor timbers indicated a pinched section for the bottom of the hull, with a prominent keel, but less marked than is usual in wrecks characteristic of this type of construction, such as the Kyrenia or Madrague de Giens.
Keel, keelson and mast step
For the mast step, more than 4 m long, only the data from the 1970s intervention are available, since the piece has been lost (Figure 2). Its underside has a series of groove-like recesses, not perpendicular to the centreline, for seating on the floor timbers, which suggests that it fitted into the triangular notches in their upper faces. Between the grooves for the floor timbers, half-moon recesses were cut coinciding with the inner ends of the half-frames, which blocked lateral movement of the mast step. Its own weight and the fitting of the stanchions supporting the beams completed the structure of the assembly. For stepping the tenon of the mast it has a main mortise with a vertical face towards the stern and a half-moon-shaped face towards the bow, together with three adjacent mortises for the securing boards. Its characteristics are very similar to those of the mast step of the Cap del Vol wreck.
Frames
The framing consists of alternating floor timbers and half-frames. The frame fragments studied are on average 7.5 cm sided and 8 cm moulded, while the most robust floor timbers are 10–12 cm sided and 16 to 20 cm moulded. These have on their upper face a series of triangular notches at the junction between the upper and side faces to house the mast step, cut asymmetrically on each side face of the floor timber, facing each other, to prevent play of the mast step and help to strengthen the backbone. The half-frames are fastened to the hull by wooden treenails 1.6 cm in diameter, placed rhythmically, pairs with lashings alternating with single treenails. The floor timbers, however, being very tall especially in their central part, meant that the treenails were not driven vertically but through the side faces of the floor timbers, from inside to outside, as in Roche Fouras or Palamós, the lashings being visible in the pairs of treenails (Pomey and Guibal 1998).
Planking
Five planking strakes survive, with an average thickness of 3 cm and widths between 13 and 20 cm. The locking pegs are slightly conical and were driven from the outside of the hull, except in the area of the keel, where they were driven from the inside.
Ceiling, thick stuff, and wales
The ceiling of the hold consisted of removable ceiling strakes 3 cm thick and fixed stringers 3.5 to 4 cm thick, of Pinus halepensis, with transverse ceiling planks resting on a stringer, similar to those of the Madrague de Giens.
Caulking
Not reported.
Size and scantlings
A ship of the same dimensions and characteristics as the Cavalière. The floor timbers measure up to 10–12 × 16–20 cm, and the planking is 3 cm thick.
Table 1. Scantling of the timber remains of the Plane 4 Shipwreck
| Timber | Sided [cm] |
Molded [cm] |
| Keel | – | – |
| Keelson | – | – |
| Maststep Mortise |
– – |
– – |
| Buttresses | – | – |
| Floor timbers | 10–12 | 16–20 |
| Frames (average) | 7.5 | 8 |
| Room-and-space At central frames |
– | |
| Planking | 13–20 | 3 |
| Ceiling Stringers Removable strakes |
– – |
3.5–4 3 |
| Main mast Ø Chock |
– – |
– – |
The mast step, now lost, was more than 4 m long. Planking and ceiling: sided = width, moulded = thickness.
Wood
Ceiling: Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis).
Bibliography
Charlin, G., Gassend, J.-M. and Lequément, R. 1978. L’épave antique de la baie de Cavalière (Le Lavandou, Var). Archaeonautica 2: 9–93.
Lequément, R. and Liou, B. 1976. Céramique étrusco-campanienne et céramique arétine, à propos d’une nouvelle épave de Marseille. In L’Italie préromaine et la Rome républicaine. Mélanges offerts à Jacques Heurgon, 587–603. Collection de l’École française de Rome 27. Rome: École française de Rome.
Liou, B. 1981. In Ex-voto marins dans le monde de l’Antiquité à nos jours (exhibition, Paris, Musée de la Marine): 55, fig. 45.
Liou, B. and Pomey, P. 1985. Recherches archéologiques sous-marines. Gallia 43.2: 547–576.
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. and Guibal, F. 1998. Dendrochronologie et dendromorphologie des épaves antiques de Méditerranée. Bilan scientifique du DRASSM 1998, 52–53. Paris (published 2003).
Santamaria, C. 1975. L’épave « H » de la Chrétienne à Saint-Raphaël (Var). Revue archéologique de Narbonnaise 8: 185–198.
Notes
1 Both the Plane 4 and the Cap del Vol have an Iberian votive coin at the foot of the mast. For the Plane 4: obverse, male head with cornucopia; reverse, horseman with palm branch and the legend CE-SE. “This allowed the axis of the ship to be located, with the mast step, which has been drawn and published, and the mast cavity, which contained the traditional votive coin: an as with Iberian legend of Cese-Tarragona, datable to the second half of the 2nd century BC, that is, a good half-century earlier than the date of the wreck, which is close to 50 BC” (translated from the French). The coin was identified by J.-C. Richard and dated by L. Villaronga. It was the subject of a note by B. Liou in Ex-voto marins dans le monde de l’Antiquité à nos jours (exhibition, Paris, Musée de la Marine), 1981: 55, fig. 45 (Liou and Pomey 1985: 556–557).