Les Sorres X

Country: Spain

Place: Near Castelldefels, Catalonia, at the site of the Canal Olímpic de Catalunya, resting on fluvial deposits of the Llobregat river within the former shallow Murtra lake

Type: Merchantman (medieval boat)

Identified: Not identified by name

Dated: Latter half of the fourteenth century, based on the style of the jars and tableware found in the hull

History of the shipwreck

Barcelona, in the Catalonia region of Spain, was chosen in 1986 to host the 1992 Olympic Summer Games. Infrastructure construction before the event included an artificial canal (Canal Olímpic de Catalunya) near Castelldefels, intended for canoe sprinting competitions (Garrido 1992, 9-10). During work on the canal in September 1990, a bulldozer uncovered the remains of a medieval boat. Recording and recovery of the find, now known as Les Sorres X, was undertaken by the Department of Culture and the Center for Underwater Archaeology of Catalonia (Centre d'Arqueologia Subaquatica de Catalunya - CASC) (Garrido 1992, 11-12).

Temporary measures to continually drain the surrounding sand allowed archaeologists to document the site in situ. Due to the pressing nature of the canal project, the team worked around the clock and dismantled the wreck rather than remove it as a single object, mainly owing to the many fractures found across the hull. The ship was documented with 1:1 scale drawings of each timber as it was removed from the hull. Conservation plans included building a vat at the CASC, where the boat would be preserved using polyethylene glycol while awaiting a final exhibit space (Martín 1992, 27-8).

In 2011, the hull remains were shipped to the Maritime Museum of Barcelona (Museu Marítim de Barcelona), where staff began renewed preservation work in 2015, with a final exhibit unveiled four years later (Barcelona n.d., accessed 9 Sept. 2020).

Description of the site

Both the Olympic canal and Les Sorres X rest on fluvial deposits from the Llobregat river, although the river itself currently discharges into the Mediterranean further north. The surrounding landscape includes urban sprawl, agricultural plots, and the Barcelona-El Prat airport. The earliest cartographic representation of the area, from 1590, depicts a coastline similar to that seen today; earlier documents suggest, however, that this floodplain silted up and expanded outward throughout the medieval period, owing to significant soil runoff as local forests were converted to farmland. Les Sorres X's location fits within the shallow Murtra lake that once existed and was slowly silted up, to the point that only its original entrance to the sea continues to exist as a water runoff for the surrounding area (Izquierdo 1992, 14).

Cargo

Approximately 10 ceramic jars, divided between the bow and stern, were used to transport salted fish. Each jar was protected with esparto grass, either wrapped around the ceramics or woven into a mat protecting it from sudden jolts against the hull. The style of the jars and of the tableware found in the hull suggests the ship was lost in the latter half of the fourteenth century (Raurich 1992, 50-2). Limited finds near amidships suggest that whatever cargo was originally in this area was salvaged.

Hull Remains

Keel

Les Sorres X is built with a relatively square keel that butted against similarly sized endposts. The ship has the earliest known example (outside antiquity) of a counter keel installed as part of its construction: a keel plank that sits directly over the keel (Pujol i Hamelink 2016, 289-90). Both endposts are rebated on their lower ends to accommodate the counter plank keel extending beyond the keel. Connections between the endposts, the counter plank keel, and the keel appear to mimic a scarf, without the labor involved in creating a true overlap.

Frames

Frames are composed of square floor timbers that overlap, and are nailed to, the futtocks. Several overlaps are diagonal butts, while the ship carpenter occasionally cut a recess in a futtock to accommodate the wronghead of an accompanying floor timber. Dual master frames positioned amidships are nailed from the inside to the keel, while the remainder of the central frames were fastened from underneath the hull. Several surviving filler frames found on the sternpost indicate these were toenailed in place from the inside (Pujol i Hamelink 1992, 36-7).

Keelson

The keelson, along the centerline, is composed of two pieces flat scarfed together, with a wooden block mast step covering the connection. Instead of iron fasteners, the keelson is connected to the keel with a series of treenails between frames (Pujol i Hamelink 1992, 36-7).

Ceiling, thick stuff and wales

Two pairs of bilge stringers are fitted on either side of the hull at the turn of the bilge. Lower stringers are treenailed between frames to rebated bilge keels. During disassembly of the hull, archaeologists noted that the upper stringer was possibly treenailed to a ribband, later removed once the planking was installed (Pujol i Hamelink 2012, 218-9). Ceiling runs longitudinally and appears in irregular shapes filling the space between the keelson and stringers.

Planking

The sternpost includes a rabbet, while the keel has none, owing to the presence of the counter keel plank resting against the frames. Planking runs adjacent to the counter keel plank and is fastened with two or three iron nails per frame station. Garboard strakes are extremely wide (40 cm), while the remainder of the planking is much narrower. Several smaller rectangular cuts suggest repairs made during the life of the vessel (Pujol i Hamelink 1992, 39).

Rudder

Les Sorres X represents one of the earliest Mediterranean-built vessels with evidence of a stern rudder instead of the traditional quarter rudders seen on all previous ships in this catalog (Pujol i Hamelink 2016, 289).

Caulking

Evidence of caulking was identified in the seams between strakes, and both the inside and outside of the hull were covered in pitch (Pujol i Hamelink 2016, 289).

Size and scantlings

Garboard strakes: 40 cm wide (much wider than the remainder of the planking). Planking is fastened with two or three iron nails per frame station.

References

Garrido, [initial not given], 1992.

Martín, [initial not given], 1992.

Museu Marítim de Barcelona, n.d. Accessed 9 September 2020, https://www.mmb.cat/en/exhibitions/les-sorres-x/;

Raurich, [initial not given], 1992.

Izquierdo, [initial not given], 1992.

Pujol i Hamelink, M., 1992.

Pujol i Hamelink, M., 2012.

Pujol i Hamelink, M., 2016. “Medieval Shipbuilding in Catalonia, Spain.”