In Search of a 17th-Century Iberian Work Horse

Author(s): George Schwarz

Year: 2013

Summary

The coastal stretches along Portugal's Algarve are historically notorious for storms in which vessels were lost during return voyages from southern destinations. Archival documents have revealed that an Iberian work vessel, perhaps a little-known but ubiquitous ship type from the Age of Exploration known as the patacho, was wrecked during a storm in the Bay of Martinhal in 1608. As the construction and operation of this particular ship type is virtually unknown, a research project was designed to locate, study, and interpret the remains of the wreck. Information gathered from local fishermen, as well as swim-line and remote-sensing surveys conducted in 2007 and 2012 showed that there may indeed be indicators of 17th-century shipwreck remains in the bay of interest, including ballast piles and alleged cannon sightings. This presentation provides details on the results of the 2012 surveys and describes plans for future investigation of the discovered sites.

Cite this Record

In Search of a 17th-Century Iberian Work Horse. George Schwarz. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, Leicester, England, U.K. 2013 ( tDAR id: 428477)

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Keywords

Temporal Keywords
Post-medieval

Spatial Coverage

min long: -129.199; min lat: 24.495 ; max long: -66.973; max lat: 49.359 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 556