Laurons 4, late 3rd–early 4th century AD
Country: France
Place: Anse des Laurons, Martigues (Bouches-du-Rhône), in shallow water
Coordinates (approximate): 43.36, 5.04
Type: Roman merchant ship
Identified: No
Dated: Imprecisely, end of the 3rd or beginning of the 4th century AD.
Beam: Unknown.
Keel Length: Unknown.
Length Overall: Unknown.
Number of Masts: One mast step, possibly with two mast mortises.
History of the wreck
Wreck 4 of Laurons is located at Martigues and was excavated by Ximénès and Moerman between 1981 and 1983. Several wrecks overlap at this site, this one being joined to the stem of Laurons 3. Given the shallowness of the site, it is thought that the cargo of this wreck was salvaged in antiquity, as happened with Laurons 1. The dating of the wreck is imprecise, between the end of the 3rd and the beginning of the 4th century AD.
Description of the site
A section of hull 9.30 m long and 2.55 m wide is preserved, and many parts of the wreck had been charred by fire.
Cargo
Probably salvaged in antiquity.
Ballast
Not reported.
Anchors
Not reported.
Guns
Not applicable.
Iron concretions
Not reported. Bronze nails 8 to 14 cm long were recorded, without further details.
Hull Remains
The preserved hull, 9.30 × 2.55 m, includes the keel, the framing, the keelson-mast step with its sister keelsons and part of the ceiling. Many parts had been charred by fire.
Keel, keelson and mast step
The keel had a rectangular section, 8.5 cm a side (pine). The ship preserved a keelson serving as mast step (Figure 1). It was made of pine, with some areas still retaining bark, and was preserved over 4 m of length, 32.5 cm wide and 23 cm high; it extended 80 cm forward beyond the sister keelsons (elm?) on which it was seated. The author interprets that in this section it would have been notched over the framing, as in the Saint Gervais 3 wreck. The sister keelsons were 14.5 cm apart and were 3.8 m long, 9 cm wide and 6.5 cm high.
According to its excavators, the mast step had two mast cavities (Ximénès and Moerman 1987: 178), although only one is shown in the schematic drawing, 19 cm long, 6 cm wide and 5 cm deep. The second cavity, 2.55 m from the first, was 18 cm long, 17 cm wide and 6 cm deep.
Figure 1. Top and side views of the mast step (drawing by Gassend, after Ximénès and Moerman 1987: 178).
Frames
The frames (elm) were fastened to the hull by treenails and nails, at a rate of two per hull strake; the treenails were 16 to 19 cm long and 1.6 to 1.8 cm in diameter. Over the keel the frames were 15 cm moulded and between 8 and 11 cm sided.
Planking
The garboard strake was 5 cm thick, unlike the other strakes, which were 3 cm (pine). The mortises had average dimensions of 7 cm wide, 4.7 cm deep and 6 mm thick.1 The tenons were 9 cm long, 6.6 cm wide and 5 to 6 mm thick. Judging from these values, the tenons are disproportionately small for the mortises.
Ceiling, thick stuff, and wales
There was an alternation of removable ceiling strakes and fixed stringers (thicker), 15 cm wide on average, following a rhythm from the sister keelson of two stringers – removable strake – stringer – removable strake; 1.35 m of this structure was preserved.
Caulking
A substantial layer of resin (pitch), 2 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 keel measures 8.5 × 8.5 cm, the frames 8–11 × 15 cm over the keel, and the keelson-mast step 32.5 × 23 cm.
Table 1. Scantling of the timber remains of the Laurons 4 Shipwreck
| Timber | Sided [cm] | Molded [cm] |
| Keel | 8.5 | 8.5 |
| Keelson (sister keelsons) | 9 | 6.5 |
| Maststep (keelson) Mast cavity 1 Mast cavity 2 | 32.5 6 × 19 17 × 18 | 23 5 (depth) 6 (depth) |
| Buttresses | – | – |
| Frames | 8–11 | 15 |
| Futtocks | – | – |
| Room-and-space At central frames | – | |
| Planking Garboard | – – | 3 5 |
| Ceiling (stringers) | 15 (avg.) | – |
| Main mast Ø Chock | – – | – – |
The mast step is preserved over 4 m; the sister keelsons are 3.8 m long.
Wood
Keel, planking and mast step: pine. Frames: elm. Sister keelsons: possibly elm.
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.
Notes
1 In the publication this value is given as 60 mm, which the author considers a misprint.