Playa Damas Shipwreck

Country: Panama

Type: Nao

Identified: No

Dated: 1500-1550

Introduction

In July 2003 the Institute of Nautical Archaeology at Texas A&M University (INA) was invited by the media group Spiegel to consider the complete excavation of a shipwreck at Playa Damas, located near Nombre de Dios, on the Atlantic coast of Panama. The media had announced, based on some evidence not confirmed by archaeological analysis, that this shipwreck was thought to be Columbus’ Vizcaína, a small 50 ton caravel lost near Portobelo, during his fourth voyage, in 1503.

On September 2003 a team from Texas A&M’s INA visited the site and started the preparation of the logistics for the full excavation of the Playa Damas shipwreck. The project was, however, handed to a treasure hunting company and the Playa Damas shipwreck stands as yet another Spanish shipwreck destroyed by treasure hunters forever.

Figure 1. Aspect of the shipwreck (Photo: Karl Vandenhole)

In the fall of 2001 the treasure hunters had used a “mailbox” to dig a four meters deep trench around the vessel, and raised a large collection of artifacts. The mailbox is a highly destructive device that deflects the water from the propellers to the bottom. The shipwreck was substantially damaged and the collection of artifacts did not contain many items with market value.

Figure 2. Sketch of the Playa Damas shipwreck site by Mr. Warren White (2001).

The site was abandoned until the INA showed interest. A second treasure hunting campaign was sold to a group of Panamanian investors that did not gain any money, but the site was probably destroyed forever.

To our knowledge there are no publications about the first nor the second salvage campaigns.

Figure 3. Sketch of the Playa Damas shipwreck (Castro 2001).

Team

The preliminary study of this shipwreck was started by the authors, but interrupted when the Panamanian government gave the salvage rights to the second treasure hunting company.

Story of the Ship

Not much is known about this ship. It was heavily armed and dated to the second quarter of the 15th century. At the time of its find, the treasure hunters proposed the idea that this might be the Vizcaina, lost by Christopher Columbus near Nombre de Dios.

The large collection of guns places this vessel in the 16th century, however, and the C14 dating corroborated this assumption.

Loss

We do not have information about the loss of such a ship.

Find

This site was found in shallow coral reef and a large portion of the hull was preserved.

Site Formation Process

Sunk in very shallow water, sometime during the first decades of the 16^th century, this ship was probably salvaged soon after its loss. When it was first found by treasure hunters, the only artifacts left were the heavy iron guns and anchors that were probably stored in the holds and were quickly buried in the sand.

Tumulus

The shipwreck lay at a depth of about 4.5 m (15 ft.) and the site consisted of a ballast pile with an area of about 60 m², roughly 10 by 6 meters, with three large anchors and an important number of iron guns, at least 12. A portion of the hull was untouched, protected under the ballast pile. The planking was 6 cm thick, frames were 17 to 18 cm square in section, and stringers were 27 x 7 cm. All these scantlings, the number of guns, and the size of the anchors indicated a ship larger than the 50-ton Vizcaína.

Figure 4. The hull remains (Photo: Karl Vandenhole)

A new sample of timber – this time from an oak futtock – was taken and dated. This sample produced a radiocarbon date of 1530-1550, compatible with the previous one, since hull planks were traditionally cut from much larger trees than futtocks, and the sample from the planking may have corresponded to an inner portion of the tree. Reutilization of timber cannot be excluded as another explanation for the early dating of these samples. Carbon dates from the lining of a shard of an olive jar also yielded compatible dates: 1450-1530.

Ballast

The ballast was made of round pebbles but there is no petrographic analysis.

Anchors

Three large anchors were visible on the site.

Guns

Eighteen guns were visible on the mound. Eight versos and eight tubes that may have been versos or bombardetas. Two large bombards were seen on top of the site.

Artifacts

A collection of artifacts was still preserved in tanks, but they were never studied nor published. This collection included more guns and cannonballs.

Figure 6. Artifact collection raised by the treasure hunters (Photo: F. Castro)

Figure 7. Cannonball in situ (Photo: Karl Vandenhole)

Publications

Brinkbaumer, Klaus, and Clemens Hoeges, 2004. “Die letze Reise des Columbus (I)“, in Der Spiegel, No. 25, 14.Jun.

Brinkbaumer, Klaus, and Clemens Hoeges, 2004. “Die letze Reise des Columbus (II)“, in Der Spiegel, No. 26, 21.Jun.

Brinkbaumer, Klaus, and Clemens Hoeges, 2004. Die letzte Reise, Der Fall Christoph Columbus, München: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt.

Castro, Filipe, Playa Damas Project – Artifact Inventory – ShipLab Report 9. 2005. On file in Nautical Archaeological Program Library, Texas A&M University.

Castro, Filipe, Playa Damas Project – Preliminary Report submitted to the Institute of Nautical Archaeology Archaeological Committee, 2004.

Castro, F., and Fitzgerald, C., 2006. “The Playa Damas Shipwreck, an early 16^th-Century Shipwreck in Panama,” in Robert Grenier, David Nutley and Ian Cochran, Underwater Cultural Heritage at Risk: Managing Natural and Human Impacts, Heritage at Risk – Special Edition, Paris: UNESCO, 38-41.