Maritime Claims and Underwater Archaeology: When History Meets Politics, Brill Research Perspectives in the Law of the Sea

Abstract

the passengers and crew were rescued. In 1973 iron guns and ballast pigs were discovered. They had produced extensive ferrous concretions, including trapped cannon balls, as is usual in this kind of shipwreck. Indeed, the same situation was present when Mercurio (1812) was discovered in Italy. The identification of a section of the hull is mentioned, and a sketch is published, but nothing more is discussed regarding the ship’s design or build. A quick list of finds includes carronades, cannon balls, a gun-lock, bronze tools for powder barrels, naval grenades, copper-alloy bolts and spikes, gudgeons, and coaks on sheaves. More unusual items include the bronze chain from a bilge pump, pieces from octants and sextants, a naval sword, medical implements, apothecaries’ weights, decorative silverwork and buttons from uniforms. The discovery of Roman coins, which are interpreted as souvenirs belonging to the crew, is very curious. In conclusion, this publication is an interesting collection of documents regarding the story of these two ships, illustrated by a selection of the finds recovered from the sites, but without a significant comparative study, as clearly reflected by the rather concise bibliography (less than two pages). We can only wish that the authors will publish, in the near future, an exhaustive edition of the archaeological research carried out on these interesting shipwrecks, which would be of great interest for maritime archaeologists working on wrecks of these periods, and which might constitute an appropriate reward for the work of the volunteers and archaeologists who collaborated on this project.