Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer 24 (SM24), AD 40–75
Country: France
Place: West of the Petit Rhône, near Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer (Bouches-du-Rhône), at a depth of 10 m
Coordinates (approximate): 43.43, 4.37
Type: Large flat-bottomed Roman fluvio-maritime merchant ship
Identified: No
Dated: AD 40–75, based on South Gaulish sigillata (Dragendorff 29b) and radiocarbon (120 BC–AD 75).
Beam: Unknown.
Keel Length: Unknown; 8.60 m preserved.
Length Overall: Estimated by Marlier at 20–25 m.
Number of Masts: Unknown.
History of the wreck
Discovered by a local fisherman in 1998, the SM24 lies at a depth of 10 m west of the Petit Rhône, near Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer. It was mistaken for a post-medieval wreck because of the presence of iron bars,1 and it was not until 2002 that Long (DRASSM) identified it as Roman, with parts of its hull preserved. In the frames observed in the test trench, internal lashings fastening them to the hull, alternating with single treenails, were identified. The SM 24 thus joined the corpus of wrecks from the mouth of the Rhône, some with the same technique of internal lashings locked by treenails for fastening the frames. As for its date, radiocarbon analyses of one of the frames give a range between 120 BC and AD 75, but the discovery of a South Gaulish sigillata vessel (Dragendorff 29b) dated between AD 40 and 90 allows the wreck to be placed between AD 40 and 75.
The size of the timbers forming the ship’s structure, the thickness and height of the frames and their straight shape, and the horizontal position of the garboard strake on a keel wider than it is high, led Marlier to conclude that the SM24 was a large flat-bottomed merchant ship, between 20 and 25 m long. It could have been a fluvio-maritime cargo vessel, for coastal navigation and for entering river and lagoon waters, which sank while carrying iron from Narbonne to Arles.
Description of the site
The hull remains were studied by Rival and Marlier (CCJ-CNRS) and were not excavated entirely, only an area 10 m long and 5 m wide, corresponding to the central part of the ship, without it being possible to establish its bow-stern orientation (Figure 1). Two large fragments of the hull were raised for study on the surface (frames M10, M11 and M12, and the western end of the keel). In the central area of the site was a large iron concretion of ingots and bars of iron of about 5 t.
Figure 1. Plan of the SM24 (drawing by Rival, CCJ-CNRS).
Cargo
A cargo of iron ingots and bars, forming a large concretion of about 5 t in the central area of the site.
Ballast
Not reported.
Anchors
Not reported.
Guns
Not applicable.
Iron concretions
A large iron concretion of ingots and bars of about 5 t covered the central part of the hull, preventing detailed observation of its southern area. Numerous blind nails of square section, 1.7 cm a side, reinforce the fastening of the frames.
Hull Remains
The keel was preserved, with eight strakes to the north of it and nine to the south, and 26 frames in situ. The keel had numerous fractures along its north side face, along the line of the mortises, the hull being separated from it on both north and south sides. Likewise, many frames north of the keel had disappeared.
Keel, keelson and mast step
The keel (Quercus), of square section, wider than it is high (Figure 2), 26 cm wide and 22 cm high, preserved 8.60 m of its length, ending at the west in a classic trait de Jupiter (rayo de Júpiter) scarf, 47 cm long and rising at 11.25° to the horizontal, for the joint with the stem or sternpost (not preserved). The side faces of the keel have no rabbet at all; the mortises for the garboard strakes are staggered on each side face of the backbone. They are 3.5 cm wide and 3.3 cm deep, the tenons being locked by pegs spaced 5.8 cm apart when seen from above.
The mast step was not found, but the succession of five floor timbers in the eastern part of the wreck seems to suggest that it was located in this section, with notches cut in frames M26 and M34 related to the fitting of a keelson or mast step, although the poor state of preservation of the framing did not allow further observation.
Figure 2. Side view and section of the keel of the SM 24, corresponding to one end, raised to the surface (drawing by Rival, CCJ-CNRS).
Frames
The arrangement of the framing could not be determined precisely, except for M20, which was identified as a floor timber. The iron concretion covering the hull did not allow detailed observation in the southern area, and in the northern area the loss of many frames prevented a precise rhythm of placing or alternation from being established; it was only possible to confirm the existence of two consecutive half-frames (M10 and M11), a floor timber (M12), a half-frame (M13) and a floor timber (M14), with a classic alternation of floor timbers and half-frames between M26 and M31. The room-and-space (malla) of the framing is 15.5 cm on average, which is fairly tight considering the sided dimensions of the frames, which vary between 9 and 16 cm (12.23 cm on average). The wood species used for the framing are varied: oak, elm, ash, Bosnian pine, poplar and fir. The frames are roughly worked and often not even properly squared, but they are robust, 14 to 18 cm moulded (23 to 26 cm over the keel), and so rectangular in profile. Over the keel the floor timbers have very well-cut rectangular limber holes, with a small bevel on the edges.
The framing was fastened to the hull by three types of fastening that define a technique: single treenails, pairs of treenails locking a looped lashing, and nails. The fastenings of the frames to the hull have a particular distribution (in general): for each hull strake, alternately, a fastening by lashing locked by treenails, a single treenail, a fastening by lashing locked by treenails, and so on (Figure 3), this arrangement being staggered when the framing is seen from above (Figure 1). The very numerous blind nails of square section, 1.7 cm a side, seem intended to reinforce the fastening to the hull.
The treenails (fir) are cylindrical, 1.8 to 3 cm in diameter, and were driven from the outside of the hull. The plant-fibre lashings are looped. The grooves cut in the upper face of the frames to let the fibres pass are 2 to 7 cm long, 1 to 3.1 cm wide and of more variable depth,2 1.3 to 4 cm. When the fibre has been passed round in two or three complete loops, it is locked by slightly truncated-cone treenails driven in opposite directions, one from the upper face of the frame and the other from the outside of the hull, so as not to slacken the lashing but to lock it and tighten it further. These treenails have a recess in their side to make room for the cord. Finally, a thick layer of pitch was applied over the whole joint to waterproof it. The rhythm of the pairs of treenails, grooves and single treenails shows some variations, as in one case in M12, where three treenails separated by a groove secure the lashings.
Figure 3. Upper and side faces of a portion of frame, showing the alternation of pairs of treenails joined by a groove with a single treenail (drawing by Marlier).
Planking
The garboard strake in the portion of hull raised to the surface is 20 cm wide and a regular 7.5 cm thick. Its rectangular shape and the absence of angles with the keel are evidence of a ship with very flat hull lines. The second strake (Figure 4), similar to the first, was 22 cm wide and its thickness changes from 7.5 cm at the side face in contact with the garboard strake to 6 cm at the level of the third strake, thanks to a bevel on its outer face. The third strake is 25 cm wide and forms a transition, 6 cm thick on one face and 5 cm at the side face in contact with the fourth strake, the thickness then remaining constant up to the last surviving strake. The strakes, of a non-resinous species (Quercus), have their mortises alternating between the two side faces so that they do not coincide and weaken the piece. The tenons, also of oak, are 16 to 19 cm long, 6 to 7 cm wide and 0.7 to 0.8 cm thick. The locking pegs, of elm, have a truncated-cone profile and were driven from the inside of the hull, with maximum diameters between 1.5 and 1.6 cm and minimum diameters between 1.3 and 1.5 cm, spaced 12.5 to 19.5 cm apart (average 16.35 cm), a much greater distance than in the keel–garboard joint.
Two lengths of the same strake are joined by bevelled scarfs, which also join the planks with mortises and tenons. At frames M11 and M14 there is an unusual joint, perhaps due to the use of a plank with knots or cracks that had to be repaired.
Figure 4. Plan and section of a transverse portion of the ship’s hull, from the garboard strake to the ninth plank (drawing by Marlier).
Ceiling, thick stuff, and wales
No ceiling plank was recorded, except under iron concretion B: 40 cm wide and 7 cm thick, with remains of square-section nails, so it could be a stringer. Notably, a large quantity of vine shoots had been placed between the frames, which immediately recalls those documented in the Cap del Vol wreck, although in this case, according to Marlier, it cannot be determined whether they fell into the spaces between the frames when the ceiling disappeared.3
Caulking
The inside of the hull was coated with pitch mixed with wood shavings and plant matter. The frame lashings were covered with a thick layer of pitch.
Size and scantlings
A large flat-bottomed merchant ship, estimated at 20–25 m long. The keel measures 26 × 22 cm, the frames 9–16 × 14–18 cm (23–26 cm over the keel) at a room-and-space of 15.5 cm, and the planking is 5 cm thick (garboard 7.5 cm).
Table 1. Scantling of the timber remains of the SM24 Shipwreck
| Timber | Sided [cm] | Molded [cm] |
| Keel | 26 | 22 |
| Keelson | – | – |
| Maststep Mortise | – – | – – |
| Buttresses | – | – |
| Frames | 9–16 (avg. 12.23) | 14–18 23–26 (over keel) |
| Futtocks | – | – |
| Room-and-space At central frames | 15.5 (avg.) | |
| Planking Garboard Second strake Third strake | – 20 22 25 | 5 7.5 7.5 to 6 6 to 5 |
| Ceiling (possible stringer) | 40 | 7 |
| Main mast Ø Chock | – – | – – |
Planking and ceiling: sided = width, moulded = thickness.
Wood
Keel, planking and tenons: oak (Quercus). Tenon-locking pegs: elm. Treenails: fir. Frames: oak, elm, ash, Bosnian pine, poplar and fir.
Bibliography
Long, L. 2003. Carte archéologique. Au large de la Camargue. L’épave Saintes-Maries 24. Bilan scientifique du DRASSM 2002, 53–54. Paris.
Long, L., Marlier, S. and Rival, M. 2004. L’épave Saintes-Maries 24. Objets de bord et architecture navale. Bilan scientifique du DRASSM 2003, 68–71. Paris.
Marlier, S. 2005. [Full reference to be completed.]
Notes
1 The SM2 wreck, sunk at the mouth of the Rhône, is another example of the transport of iron in the second half of the 1st century BC and the first half of the 1st century AD. This ship has frames with internal lashings fastening them to the hull.
2 The groove on the outer face of the hull for the passage of the lashing was not measured.
3 In fig. 101p on p. 147 of the volume of illustrations of Marlier’s doctoral thesis, the resemblance to the vine shoots in situ in the Cap del Vol is striking.