The Shipwreck of the French Fleet in Las Aves de Sotavento, Venezuela: A Seventeenth-Century Maritime Disaster

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Underwater and Coastal Archaeology in Latin America" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This presentation underlines the importance of Venezuela’s underwater cultural heritage through continued research into the shipwreck of French King Louis XIV’s fleet, which struck reefs in the Las Aves de Sotavento, in Las Aves Archipelago, Venezuela, the night of May 11, 1678. The fleet consisted of 30 vessels. At least 12 ships sank during this single event, taking the lives of likely hundreds of men. Preliminary studies suggest that we are in the presence of one of the largest and most important shipwrecks of the Atlantic World and the Caribbean. They also indicate the urgent need to research and safeguard this submerged archaeological site as a unique part of the world’s cultural heritage.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)   •
• Underwater and Coastal Archaeology in Latin America

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38292.0