Jules Verne 7, second half of the 6th century BC
Country: France
Place: Place Jules Verne, near the Vieux Port, Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône); land excavation in the ancient harbour
Coordinates (approximate): 43.30, 5.37
Type: Greek (Phocaean-Massaliote) coastal merchant ship
Identified: No
Dated: Abandoned towards the end of the 6th century BC; in use during the second half of the 6th century BC (Pomey 1998: 147).
Beam: Reconstructed at 3 m.
Keel Length: 10.70 m preserved.
Length Overall: Reconstructed at 15 m.
Number of Masts: One; the position of the mast step has been reconstructed.
History of the wreck
During the land excavations carried out in Marseille in 1992 and 1993 near the Vieux Port, remains of the Greek and Roman harbour installations were found. Among the discoveries, the remains of two boats, abandoned at the same time a short distance from the shore, stood out. They are of Phocaean-Massaliote cultural attribution, dated to the end of the 6th century BC, and were designated Jules Verne 7 and 9. The excavation of the organic remains posed many problems of controlling the physical environment of the site, given the extreme fragility of the remains, and after recording by stereophotogrammetry and measurement both boats were transferred to ARC-Nucléart in Grenoble1 (C.E.N.G.) for conservation.
The Jules Verne 9 was built shell-first, with its strakes joined by sewing with plant fibres and horizontal dowels between the planks that helped to prevent movement of the planking during construction and later in use. The frames, simple reinforcements of the hull structure, were also sewn, and had a series of rectangular notches (which also served as limber holes) in their underside, coinciding with the seams between the strakes, to avoid friction on the stitching. The wreck is an example of the sewn boats of Phocaean origin (Figure 1). It shows a technique of fastening the frames to the hull by external lashings, which consists of drilling four holes obliquely through the strakes, through which the frame is lashed. This lashing is then locked by inserting pegs into the holes through which the cord has passed, to secure it permanently. The site is also relevant for understanding the survival of shipbuilding techniques, since it is the first in which internal lashings are documented, on a timber interpreted as a possible futtock, without structural connection to the wreck. The lashing is made through two holes a few centimetres apart along the longitudinal axis of the piece, a technique found in the Graeco-Roman period, although it cannot be said whether this is a survival or a reinvention. These holes are joined by a small groove in the upper face of the frame to house the lashing cord. Once the frame has been fastened to the hull, locking treenails are inserted, which improve the fastening and prevent the stitching from fraying (Marlier 2005: 171). The Jules Verne 9 was used for fishing and coastal navigation, and had a rounded bottom and a length of 10 m (Pomey 1998b: 148).
The Jules Verne 7 was abandoned towards the end of the 6th century BC, so in Pomey’s opinion, given the longevity of ships in Antiquity, it must have been in service during the second half of the 6th century BC (Pomey 1998: 147), that is, less than a century after the foundation of the Phocaean colony in 600 BC.
Figure 1. Plan and sections of the Jules Verne 9 wreck, showing the technique of fastening the frames by external lashings to a hull whose strakes are sewn together. Four holes are drilled at an angle through the strakes to lash the frame, and the lashing is then locked by inserting pegs that secure it permanently (after M. Rival, CCJ-CNRS, in Pomey et al. 1997: 92).
Description of the site
The Jules Verne 7, studied by Pomey (1995, 1997, 1998a, 1998b, 2009; Pomey et al. 1997; Pomey and Rieth 2005), was used for coastal trade. It survives over 14 m of length and nearly 4 m of width (Figure 2), which has allowed its dimensions2 to be reconstructed at 15 m in length and 3 m in beam, with hull lines of rounded section but very angular or pinched at bow and stern (Pomey 1998: 150).
Figure 2. Plan of the Jules Verne 7 (the small boat Jules Verne 9 lay to the west) (plan: M. Rival, CCJ-CNRS; after Pomey 1998: 149).
Cargo
Not applicable; the ship had been abandoned in the harbour.
Ballast
Not reported.
Anchors
Not reported.
Guns
Not applicable.
Iron concretions
Not reported. The frames were fastened to the hull with iron nails.
Hull Remains
In spite of the many breaks in the hull, it was reassembled using study models (Pomey 2009: 413–415) to understand the boat’s lines. The shape of the hull at bow and stern could be determined from the ends of the surviving planking strakes and from the angles of a floor timber from that area.
Keel, keelson and mast step
The keel, of almost square section, is well preserved, 10.70 m long, 11 cm high and 10 cm wide. Although neither the stem nor the sternpost was found, it has been established that they were joined to the keel by a trait de Jupiter (rayo de Júpiter) scarf with a vertically oriented locking key, quite different from those of the Graeco-Roman period (Figure 3). The keel has no rabbet in its central section, but a notched rabbet appears about 1 m from its ends, before the scarfs.
Mortises cut in two of the floor timbers indicate that the ship had stanchions on the centreline. The mast step was not preserved, apparently having been salvaged in antiquity, but its position has been reconstructed from the elements that held it in place (Figure 4).
Figure 3. Axonometric reconstruction of the stem of the Jules Verne 7, with its particular scarf (M. Rival, CCJ-CNRS).
Figure 4. Axonometric reconstruction of the bow of the Jules Verne 7, with the mast step (M. Rival, CCJ-CNRS).
Frames
Most of the floor timbers (very long, with the futtocks beginning at the seventh or eighth strake) could be restored to their original positions, from their shapes and from the position of the nails and impressions. They were very widely spaced (average room-and-space, malla, of 90 cm). The frames have a rounded or trapezoidal section with a rather narrow base and numerous notches, like those documented in the framing of sewn ships of Greek tradition, to avoid contact with the seams (Nieto and Santos 2009: 28), although they are fastened to the hull with iron nails.
The floor timbers are joined to the futtocks at the level of the second wale by a scarf secured with a peg, of the same type as in the sewn Jules Verne 9, where the beams are also fitted into transverse mortises. Joints between floor timbers and futtocks are not usual or characteristic of ancient ship construction (Gianfrotta and Pomey 1981: 241–247), so this could be considered a feature of the architectural signature of Massaliote shipyards. The floor timbers are fastened directly to the hull by iron nails driven from the outside, their points deformed or bent by hammering to “staple” them to the upper face of the frames. As an exception, there are some lashings fastening the framing to the hull: they are found at the feet of the top timbers placed alternately between the floor-futtock pairs, in the highest part of the hull, but only at this joint, the rest of their length being fastened with wooden treenails.
Planking
The planking strakes are laid edge to edge and are between 2.5 and 3 cm thick, with widths varying between 14 and 28 cm (Figure 5). Strake no. 8, just below the first wale, acts as a control or guide strake to create symmetry between the two sides as the sides were raised. Lengths of plank are joined by simple bevelled scarfs in the bottom (the first six strakes) or by broken or curved diagonal joints (pico de flauta) in the higher strakes (Figure 2), a technique less common than might be thought, documented only in the Jules Verne 7, Ma’agan Mikhael, Binissafúller, Marsala and Chrétienne C wrecks.
The planks are joined to the keel and to each other by a combination of two techniques: punicana coagmenta (most of the hull) and sewing. The tenons are very long and narrow (14 × 3 cm), with an average spacing between mortises of 20 cm, and compared with the ships of the 4th century BC they look primitive and still undeveloped (Figures 5 and 6). The locking pegs measure 1.1–1.4 cm in diameter on the inner face of the hull and 0.9–1.2 cm on the outer face. The sewing, following the same technical pattern seen in the contemporary Jules Verne 9, was part of the building process and was used to solve the angular joint between the stem and sternpost and the ends of the planking strakes. Although sewing has been recorded in other parts of the hull, randomly placed, these are repairs of joints originally made with pegged mortises and tenons.
Some shipwright’s marks were recorded that have helped to understand the stages of the ship’s construction: some are the notches in the bases of the floor timbers, and others are arrows incised at the level of the 8th strake, coinciding with the ends of the same floor timbers, which indicate that these were fitted after the first eight strakes of the hull had been assembled.
Figure 5. Diagram of the average dimensions of the planking strakes, with the spacing and size of the assembly mortises (M. Rival, CCJ-CNRS).
Figure 6. Axonometric diagram of the average dimensions in the Jules Verne 7 wreck (M. Rival, CCJ-CNRS).
Ceiling, thick stuff, and wales
The ship had three wales of polygonal or semicircular section, narrow (7 to 11 cm) and thick (8 to 12 cm), recorded on the better-preserved side.
Caulking
Not reported.
Size and scantlings
The ship has been reconstructed at 15 m in length and 3 m in beam. The keel is light (10 × 11 cm), the floor timbers very widely spaced (90 cm), and the planking 2.5–3 cm thick.
Table 1. Scantling of the timber remains of the Jules Verne 7 Shipwreck
| Timber | Sided [cm] | Molded [cm] |
| Keel | 10 | 11 |
| Keelson | – | – |
| Maststep Mortise | – – | – – |
| Buttresses | – | – |
| Floor timbers | – | – |
| Futtocks | – | – |
| Room-and-space At central frames | 90 (avg.) | |
| Planking | 14–28 | 2.5–3 |
| Wales | 7–11 | 8–12 |
| Ceiling | – | – |
| Main mast Ø Chock | – – | – – |
Planking and wales: sided = width, moulded = thickness.
Wood
The keel is of holm oak (Quercus ilex), the planking of Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis), the floor timbers of alder (Alnus glutinosa), and the pegs and tenons of olive (Olea europaea), a less commonly used species, also recorded in the Binissafúller wreck.
Bibliography
Gianfrotta, P. A. and Pomey, P. 1981. Archeologia subacquea. Storia, tecniche, scoperte e relitti. Milan: Mondadori.
Marlier, S. 2005. [Full reference to be completed.]
Nieto, X. and Santos 2009. [Full reference to be completed.]
Pomey, P. 1995. Les épaves grecques et romaines de la place Jules-Verne à Marseille. Comptes rendus des séances de l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 139.2: 459–484.
Pomey, P. 1997. Dendrochronologie et dendromorphologie des épaves antiques de Méditerranée. Bilan scientifique du DRASSM 1996, 102–103. Paris.
Pomey, P. 1998a. Conception et réalisation des navires dans l’Antiquité méditerranéenne. In E. Rieth (ed.), Concevoir et construire les navires. De la trière au picoteux. Technologies, Idéologies, Pratiques 13.1: 49–72. Ramonville Saint-Agne: Érès.
Pomey, P. 1998b. Les épaves grecques du VIe siècle av. J.-C. de la place Jules-Verne à Marseille. Archaeonautica 14: 147–154.
Pomey, P. 2009. Principes et méthodes de construction en architecture navale antique méditerranéenne. De la conception à la réalisation. In X. Nieto and M. A. Cau (eds), Arqueologia nàutica mediterrània, 337–342. Monografies del CASC 8. Girona.
Pomey, P. (ed.), Gianfrotta, P. A., Nieto, X. and Tchernia, A. 1997. La navigation dans l’Antiquité. Aix-en-Provence: Édisud.
Pomey, P. and Rieth, E. 2005. L’archéologie navale. Paris: Errance.
Notes
1 The Jules Verne 9, a smaller boat whose planking strakes were assembled by lashings, was conserved by impregnation and freeze-drying. The Jules Verne 7 is still being conserved by PEG impregnation.
2 The experimental methodology followed by the nautical archaeology team of the Centre Camille Jullian (CNRS-Université de Provence) to reconstruct the Jules Verne 7 consisted of reproducing the hull remains at a working scale, with their deformations and damage, in order to understand three-dimensionally the taphonomic process the wreck had undergone. The post-depositional process was then analysed in reverse to produce a study model. Finally, the final reconstruction model is made, in which the propulsion and steering systems must be based on analogies, comparisons and/or iconography, allowing for several hypotheses. The Centre Camille Jullian’s Prôtis project, with scientific, heritage and educational aims, is now coordinating the future construction of sailing replicas of the Jules Verne 7 and 9, as the final stage of their experimental study.