The Mortella II & III Wrecks: premiminary observations on two 16th-century archaeological sites discovered in Saint-Florent Bay, Corsica, France

Abstract

In 2005 and 2006 the remains of great armed vessels dated from the 16th century were discovered within an archaeological survey framework led by the Société d'Etudes en Archéologie Subaquatique (SEAS) in Saint-Florent Bay (north Corsica, France). The preliminary study of the two archaeological sites located, named Mortella II and Mortella III, sheds light on these highly interesting shipwrecks and the contribution their excavation-programmed for 2010-will be able to provide to the maritime archaeology of this period, about which relatively little is known.

Post-Medieval Wrecks in the Western Mediterranean and Pottery: The Mortella II Wreck (1527) and the Chronology of Montelupo Tin-Glazed Earthenware

“…The new discoveries must be added to this need for revision. Above all, I would like to underline the role of investigation of archival written sources, which have made it possible to date the sinking of two Genoese merchant ships called Mortella II and Mortella III [12][13] to 1527, whose ceramics are discussed in this paper. Research on written documentation has again allowed us to specify the previous, very generic dating to the 16th century of the Rocciu 1 wreck in Corsica [14].…”

An Assemblage of Early Modern Ordnance and Ground Tackle from South-west Cyprus

“…The types, sizes, and numbers of anchors generally are indicators of the size of the ship that carried them and can provide clues to the type of ship they served. However, it is difficult to estimate ship size and type when the ground tackle assemblage is incomplete and especially problematic for Mediterranean ships dating from the Renaissance (de la Roche, : 78).…”

“…The proportions of the anchor and the angle of its arms to the shank are similar to anchors dating from the 16th century discovered during investigations of San Juan (Moore et al ., 2007: 76–7); Mary Rose (McElvogue, : 277–80); San Esteban (Arnold and Weddle, : 224–30, Table J.1); La Trinidad Valencera , the Venetian ship Balancera (Martin, : 31); Vasa (Cederlund, : 99, fig. ); and the Mortella II and III (de la Roche, : 76–7); Emanuel Point (Burns, : 72–6); and Kravel shipwrecks (Adams and Rönnby : 108, fig. ; pers.…”