Excavations on a 19th century wreck to study the trade of the time

2023-12-15 18:54:15

A 19th century wreck, stranded at a depth of 75 meters off the coast of Toulon, was the subject of new explorations in mid-December in an attempt to recover jars and culinary ceramics and to understand the trade of the time. “Here, we are really at the start of an investigation. We know that it is a ship which transported jars from Biot and culinary ceramics from Vallauris (Alpes-Maritimes). Its destination was probably Marseille,” explained Marine Sadania, archaeologist at the department of underwater and underwater archaeological research (Drassm) and scientific director of the project.

Robots as reinforcements

“But what are the reasons for its sinking? Why did he end up at Cape Sicié? »: so many enigmas still to be solved for the researcher. Discovered in 2005, the wreck, nicknamed “Cap Sicié 4”, was explored for the first time in 2022, which made it possible to date the shipwreck to the first half of the 19th century.

For this new expertise, archaeologists also relied on the national navy, under the aegis of the Prefect of the Mediterranean, to increase the number of human and robotic dives. “At these depths, human operation time is limited” and “the presence of robots makes it possible to speed up a certain number of operations and manipulations, and therefore to save time and study this wreck”, explains Arnaud Schaumasse, director of Drassm.

“The priority of this year’s mission was to bring up a jar that contained Vallauris tableware, to see how they packaged it,” adds Marine Sadania. “It is important to know the jobs that were done in the past, how these sea jobs were done and to see how they are passed on today,” notes Vice Admiral Gilles Boidevezi, maritime prefect of the Mediterranean. .

Around a hundred jars were counted during the first exploration. They were probably intended to eventually contain liquids or dry products, such as oil or flour. During this shipwreck, they were transported empty, but, in order to optimize the loading, some contained ceramic culinary dishes, in particular pots and frying pans, specifies a press release from the Ministry of Culture and the prefecture of Mediterranean. This research and these complex dives could eventually be the subject of a traveling exhibition, according to Marine Sadania.