Laurons 3, late 3rd–early 4th century AD
Country: France
Place: Anse des Laurons, Martigues (Bouches-du-Rhône), at a depth of 2 m
Coordinates (approximate): 43.36, 5.04
Type: Roman merchant ship
Identified: No
Dated: End of the 3rd or beginning of the 4th century AD, based on late Dressel 20, Pélichet 47 and Africana II amphorae.
Beam: Unknown.
Keel Length: Unknown.
Length Overall: Unknown.
Number of Masts: One mast step is preserved.
History of the wreck
Wreck 3 of Laurons is located at Martigues, at a site where several wrecks overlap: the sternpost of this wreck lies over the stem of Laurons 4 and Laurons 2. The wreck was excavated by Ximénès and Moerman between 1981 and 1983. Given the shallowness of the site, it is thought that the cargo of this wreck was salvaged in antiquity, as in Laurons 1. The presence of four necks of late Dressel 20 amphorae, a Pélichet 47 and an Africana II dates the wreck to the end of the 3rd or the beginning of the 4th century AD.
Description of the site
The wreck lies at a depth of 2 m. A section of hull 9.67 m by 4.50 m was preserved (Figure 1), partly covered by stones, perhaps ballast as in Laurons 1.
Figure 1. Schematic plan of the Laurons 3 wreck (after Ximénès and Moerman 1987: 174).
Cargo
The cargo was probably salvaged in antiquity. Four necks of late Dressel 20 amphorae, a Pélichet 47 and an Africana II were found.
Ballast
The hull was partly covered by stones, perhaps ballast.
Anchors
Not reported.
Guns
Not applicable.
Iron concretions
A single iron nail fastening the sister keelsons to floor timber M104 was recorded. Bronze nails 8 to 15 cm long were also recorded, without further details.
Hull Remains
The preserved hull, 9.67 × 4.50 m, includes the keel with its joint to the sternpost, the keelson-mast step on two sister keelsons, the framing and part of the ceiling (Figures 1 and 2).
Keel, keelson and mast step
The ship had a pine keelson, 4.50 m long, 31 cm wide and 18 to 23 cm high, which also served as the mast step (Figure 2). It rested on two parallel sister keelsons of cypress, as seen in other wrecks such as Saint Gervais 3, which extended 1.20 m aft beyond the end of the mast step, creating an elliptical space between M104 and M106 (45 × 38 cm) to house the bilge pump, which was not found and seems to have been installed after the hull structure had been built. These two lateral sister keelsons were 21 cm apart and had a total length of 6.10 m, a width of 11 cm and a height of 8 cm. A single iron nail fastening them to floor timber M104 was recorded.
At the forward end the keel did not reach the scarf with the stem, but it preserved the joint with the sternpost (elm) at the level of M102. The width of this piece was 17 cm where it meets the keel and 14.5 cm in the missing area. The preserved length of the sternpost is 1.70 m and its height was 23 cm.
Figure 2. Axonometric view of the backbone of the Laurons 3 wreck (after Cuomo, in Ximénès and Moerman 1987: 175).
Frames
Marks of tools such as the chisel and the adze were recorded on the framing. Floor timbers and half-frames alternate, with two limber holes of semicircular section coinciding with the seam between the keel and the garboard strakes. The framing is 25 cm moulded on the centreline and 8 cm sided, which gives these pieces a slender appearance. They were fastened to the hull by nails and treenails, three floor timbers also being fastened with bolts (apparently to the keel) (Ximénès and Moerman 1987: 176). The fastening treenails (Quercus ilex) were 15 to 19 cm long and 1.8 to 2 cm in diameter.
Planking
The garboard strake was 4.5 cm thick, the other strakes 3 cm. The mortises in the hull were 7 cm wide, 7 cm deep and 8 mm high or thick. The tenons (Quercus ilex) were on average 13 cm long, 7 cm wide and 7 to 8 mm thick. The pegs (Quercus ilex) were cylindrical or conical, 3.5 to 4 cm long and 1 to 1.2 cm in diameter.
Ceiling, thick stuff, and wales
The internal longitudinal structure was characterised by a fixed stringer of more robust dimensions, alternating with removable ceiling strakes with a series of central holes, which Ximénès (1987: 176) interprets as an aid to lifting them. The ceiling began, next to the sister keelson, with a removable piece. On one ceiling strake the mortises for the stanchions that support and join the upper and lower structure were recorded; two of these were found, one 1.10 m long and the other 62 cm.
Caulking
A substantial layer of resin (pitch), 3 to 5 mm thick, was recorded on the bottom timbers of the hull.
Size and scantlings
No estimate of the ship’s dimensions is given. The keelson-mast step measures 31 × 18–23 cm, the frames 8 × 25 cm on the centreline, and the planking 3 cm (garboard 4.5 cm).
Table 1. Scantling of the timber remains of the Laurons 3 Shipwreck
| Timber | Sided [cm] | Molded [cm] |
| Keel | – | – |
| Sternpost | 14.5–17 | 23 |
| Keelson (sister keelsons) | 11 | 8 |
| Maststep (keelson) | 31 | 18–23 |
| Buttresses | – | – |
| Frames | 8 | 25 |
| Futtocks | – | – |
| Room-and-space At central frames | – | |
| Planking Garboard | – – | 3 4.5 |
| Ceiling | – | – |
| Main mast Ø Chock | – – | – – |
The keelson-mast step is 4.50 m long; the sister keelsons 6.10 m.
Wood
Keelson-mast step: pine. Sister keelsons: cypress. Sternpost: elm. Tenons, pegs and treenails: holm oak (Quercus ilex).
Bibliography
Ximénès, S. and Moerman, M. 1987. Les épaves I, III et IV du port romain de l’anse des Laurons (Martigues, Bouches-du-Rhône). Cahiers d’Archéologie Subaquatique 6: 171–182.