About 1,700 years ago, a boat carrying hundreds of tons of wine, olives, oil and garum came to grief during a stop in Mallorca.
The merchant vessel, which was en route from south-west Spain to Italy, was swallowed by the waves in the Bay of Palma and buried in the sand.
It had been untouched until last month, when it was found beneath the bellies of many tourists who swim off one of the busiest beaches in the Balearics.
The Ses Fontanelles wreck is giving up its archaeological, historical and gastronomic secrets. A recovery operation overseen by the island's governing body, the Consell de Mallorca, and involving experts from three Spanish universities in the Balearics, Barcelona and Cádiz, has retrieved about 300 Amphorae as well as other objects that offer priceless insights into.
Archaeologists have found a leather shoe, a rope shoe, a cooking pot, an oil lamp, and a Roman carpenter's drill in addition to the clay jars.
Three years ago, after a summer storm churned up the waters of the bay, the boat emerged. The appearance confirmed anecdotal reports from divers dating back to the 1950s and prompted the Consell de Mallorca to take action.
After running an emergency intervention, the consell put together a team of archaeologists and marine experts.
Jaume Cardell, the head of archaeology, says the aim is to preserve everything there and all the information it contains.
The project Arqueomallornauta is about recovering and preserving both the wreck and its historical cargo. In the western Mediterranean, there are very few wrecks with such a singular cargo.
The team is looking at how to recover the hull of the wreck, which lies just 50 metres off the beach, but those who brought up the cargo are still a little breathless over what they have found.
The sands of the bay have done a great job of protecting the wreck from oxygen and preserving its organic materials.
Archeologists at the University of Barcelona have found bits of textile, a leather shoe and an espadrille, all perfectly preserved.
The most surprising thing about the boat is how well preserved it is, even the wood of the hull.
The significance of the find is hard to overstate, according to the team.
There are very few ancient boats that are as well preserved as this one.
It's incredibly difficult to find the whole Amphorae. The state of conservativism here is amazing. There are millions of people in 2 metres of water.
The wreck shows the commercial and strategic importance of the Balearic archipelago during the Roman empire.
The islands were a staging post for routes from the Iberian peninsula and the Italic peninsula.
The team found no trace of the crew apart from their belongings, suggesting they may have made it to the shore or been swept away by the waves. What they left behind is intriguing.
The oil lamp is a pagan symbol of the moon goddess Diana, and the Christian signs are on some of the Amphorae.
The crew was probably pagan, but some of the merchandise they were carrying had Christian symbols.
That may show us a bit about the daily lives of the crew. They might have said, "Look, I'm a sailor and I believe what I believe, but if you want me to carry a Christian cargo, I'm OK with that."
With the recovery phase complete and the cataloging under way, thoughts are turning to putting the entire find on show.
Cardell says they are in touch with both national and international experts to make sure the hull is recovered.
People need to see the boat. We do archaeology for everyone and not just for the scientists.
After the wreck's cargo was touched by humans for the first time in almost two thousand years, the archaeologists are not giving up.
It's one of those finds when you are laughing all the time and you can't believe it. We will never find anything like this again.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
