Archaeologists excavating the site of a historic fish market in Barcelona discovered the remnants of a big medieval boat that was swallowed by the waves off the Catalan city 500 to 600 years ago.
The site, which is being excavated in order to establish a new biomedicine and biodiversity center, has already yielded discoveries ranging from a Spanish civil war air-raid shelter to remnants of the old market and the city’s 18th-century past.
However, earlier this month, archaeologists discovered the ruined stern of a large vessel that may have sunk during a storm in the 15th or 16th century, when that portion of Barcelona was still under water.
A massive portion of the boat, 10 metres long and three metres broad, with more than 30 bent wooden ribs, has been discovered at a depth of 5 metres below sea level.
The building was held together with a combination of wood and iron nails. The construction is characteristic of medieval boats found in the Mediterranean and throughout Europe beginning in the mid-15th century.
“We’d thought some archaeological boat remains might turn up on this site, which is near the port and the artificial stone quay that protected the port, and which was a working zone in the 15th and 16th centuries,” Santi Palacios, the lead archaeologist, told CNN. “Two years later, we’ve been lucky enough to find a boat.”
The boat’s remaining wood, designated the Ciutadella I after the neighboring Ciutadella park, is extremely delicate and has been kept damp and covered in the sand where it has been for centuries to prevent further degradation.
Delia Eguiluz, a restorer, stated that the wood must be kept consistently damp to maintain its fine condition. “When we move it, we’ll have to dismantle it piece-by-piece so we can continue our research.”
The team is charting the site, identifying each component, and collecting samples from the boat. The wreck will then be transferred to a special facility and treated with water-soluble wax to reinforce and maintain the structure.
Experts expect the old timbers and nails may give light on how boats were made throughout the Middle Ages. Its discovery comes 17 years after another 15th-century boat, Barceloneta I, was discovered near a city railway station. Unlike the Ciutadella I, this boat was Cantabrian rather than Mediterranean.
The team expects that analyzing the newly discovered vessel’s wood and resin will help them figure out where it was produced.
“This is a very important discovery,” Palacios added. “It’s not just about finding one boat because we now have two examples of perfectly documented naval construction in the city of Barcelona.”
