Spanish archaeologists have successfully removed a 2,600-year-old shipwreck off the country’s southeast coast, 20 years after the artifacts were first discovered, officials announced.
The ancient Phoenician shipwreck, which dates back to the 7th century BC, was discovered off the coast of Murcia near the town of Mazarrón in southeastern Spain in 1994, according to Spain’s Ministry of Culture.
This wreck, now called Mazarron II, was one of two in the same general area. The first one, called Mazarrón I, was first discovered in 1993, pulled from the sea in June 1995, and after years of conservation, was exhibited at Spain’s National Underwater Archeology Museum in 2005, the museum said. said.
Spanish National Underwater Archeology Museum
Mazarrón II is of particular interest to archaeologists and researchers because it is one of the few Phoenician-era shipwrecks found almost intact, Carlos de Juan, head of the excavation project, shared with the University of Valencia. said in the video. The university carried out the excavation in partnership with the Regional Ministry of Culture of Murcia.
A team of 14 experts worked with De Juan on the project, which started on September 13 and ended on November 7, taking the wreck from the sea in less than two months. Video shows divers bringing pieces of wood from the wreck to the surface.
Phoenicia was an ancient civilization located on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea, in what is now Lebanon, Syria, and Israel, and existed from about 1500 to 300 BC. According to historians, the Phoenicians briefly flourished in trade and developed an alphabet on which to base their trade. Many traces of civilization, later created by ancient Greece and Rome, were thought to be lost until the 20th century.
Relics like Mazarron II can help shed light on Phoenician culture, de Juan said. In comments to the University of Valencia, he pointed out that despite a wealth of information about ships built by the ancient Greeks in the nearby Mediterranean, little is still known about Phoenician naval construction.
“This shipwreck is therefore a very important contribution to this field of research,” de Juan said. He noted that elements of Mazarron II are similar to architectural designs seen in surrounding cultures, but that some are distinctive and mysterious, at least for now.
Parts of the shipwreck were transferred to a laboratory at the Underwater Archeology Museum in southern Spain. The lab will carefully preserve the site, a process that is expected to take several more years.
