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The Roman Port and Fishery of Cosa: a short guide
REVIEWS
those at Bon-Porte´ or in Place Jules-Verne at Marseilles: the construction of these ships, and of Marseilles JulesVerne 7 (a hybrid stitched/tenon cargo-carrier of the late sixth century), is discussed by Patrice Pomey in a later section of the book. Pomey argues that the stitched fishing-boat, nine or ten metres in length, Jules-Verne-9, must be of local, presumably Greek, build, and so Bon-Porte´-1, a coastal trader some twelve metres long, must be Greek as well. By general extension it seems to follow that all the ships discussed in this volume were in some sense Greek, and that, while Etruscan goods have been found in various quantities at several wreck sites, we do not have any clear evidence for a distinctive Etruscan style of shipbuilding. One of the striking finds from the Grand-Ribaud-F wreck is the bottom of a cup, of uncertain origin (perhaps central Italy rather than Marseilles), inscribed with a graffito which might be Greek and could be a personal name or nickname: if this interpretation is correct, the ship seems to have very strong Greek associations. So the sea-going Etruscans seem to be elusive: but, in a concluding discussion, J-P. Morel rightly points out that Etruscans could well have bought or imitated Greek ships, if they did not merely charter them. Moreover, the catalogue entry for Pointe Lequin-1A wreck (by Luc Long and J-C. Sourisseau) is reticent on this issue: however, the cargo (datable 530– 510 BC) was almost all of Greek origin (and included multiple objects, suggesting some kind of ‘trade’) but the ship (represented by fragments apparently of the keel and a garboard) was, it seems, of tenoned plank construction. Perhaps even more detailed examination of all the surviving elements of these archaic ships, including consideration of woodland management, species section, metallurgy and other forensic information, could yet illuminate what might be a very complicated scenario. Furthermore, it emerges from discussions of the harbour of Marseilles by Antoinette Hesnard and of the early archaeology of the Phocæan colony of Massalia by Sourisseau that our view of how Etruscan goods arrived in southern Gaul may need revision. Etruscan goods were then brought to Gaulish sites including Marseilles even before the founding of the Greek colony there, and during the sixth century the very considerable amount of Etruscan material from (some sites in) Massalia may derive, if not from an Etruscan trading-post, perhaps from a shrine frequented by Etruscan traders or mariners. It follows that inferences about the ethnicity of ships or traders and about the social basis of the important and deposition of pottery or other finds need to involve a dynamic inspection of the links between wrecks, ship-remains, harbourdeposits and terrestrial assemblages; the present volume goes some way to stimulate and enable such a review, and herein lies its especial interest for maritime archaeology as a whole. The discipline of nautical archaeology is also well served in this volume by discussions of underwater sites and finds. The issue of ‘isolated finds’ is tackled head-on by Long, who gives a catalogue of supposed ‘stray’
Etruscan amphoras reported by divers over the years form the southern French coast. His conclusion is that in fact most of these finds do represent wrecks, and some system for rewarding divers for reporting loose finds is essential if potential new wreck sites are to be recorded. There is also a very clear account (unfortunately lacking a site-plan) by Hesnard of the Etruscan wreck which can be disentangled from the ‘graveyard of ships’ around ´ cueil de Miet (formerly the now-submerged rock of the E variously named in publications). Here, a collation of divers’ reports and some laborious site survey has established the identity of four different ancient wrecks, in poor condition and mostly overlain by the Batavia (1877). The shattered remains of Etruscan amphoras ´ cueil de Miet-3 do not make much of a collected from E ‘treasure’ or a ‘time capsule’, but in the context of this volume they supply a vivid addition to the picture of archaeology in and around Marseilles. As such, this well-illustrated, fully referenced and soberly argued book is a valuable addition to the literature of maritime archaeology, and it deserves to be widely read. A. J. PARKER
The Roman Port and Fishery of Cosa: a short guide (Full text in both English and Italian) ANNA MARGUERITE McCANN 78 pp., 121 illustrations, mostly colour Price US$16.95 or V15 American Academy in Rome, 2003, available from Oxbow Books, Oxford, OX1 1HN, UK, or David Brown Book Co, PO Box 511, Oakville, CT 06779, USA; Libreria Archeologica, via di S. Giovanni in Laterano, 46 ang. Via Ostilia 2, Roma 00184, Italy This slim volume may be intended as a portable guide for visitors to the site, but it is so clearly written and so thoroughly illustrated that it will also appeal to a much wider audience, providing a useful summary of the 1987 excavation report, and an update on certain aspects of the site. Pages 6–51 contain the English text, with all the illustrations, followed by the same text in Italian. Topics covered include the history of the site and its excavations, the historical and topographical setting, and the evidence for its three phases: 3rd to late-2nd century BC; late-2nd to 1st century BC; and 1st to 3rd century AD. Within these three main descriptive sections are explanations at appropriate points of underwater excavation techniques; the distribution of amphoras bearing the stamp of the Sestius family (and presumably made in Cosa) as illustrated by archaeological finds from both land and underwater sites; the management of the lagoon for breeding fish; and the wooden bucket-chain mechanism for lifting water, recently paralleled by finds in London. 265
NAUTICAL ARCHAEOLOGY, 32.2
Through a description of the site and its excavation, a picture is built up of this busy commercial port, and the range of industrial and other activities associated with it. Much of this may have been the enterprise of one family, the Sestii, who seem to have manufactured amphoras, possibly produced the wine and almost certainly produced the fish sauce to put in them, and may also have owned the ships into which these amphoras were loaded. A recurring theme is the importance of Cosa, and, particularly, the early date of much of its evidence: the earliest examples so far identified of pozzolana concrete; of a Roman lighthouse; of commercial fisheries; and, of a bucket-chain for lifting water. Also from Cosa has come the greatest concentration of Will type 1d amphoras found anywhere. All these claims are firmly based on archaeological evidence. Cosa in its middle period does seem to have been the ‘chief port for the export of wine and garum (the potent Roman fish sauce) to the western Mediterranean, especially to Gaul’. The photographs of the site and finds are complemented by plans and reconstruction drawings. Some of the illustrations are small, but they are of such high quality that this does not matter. My main niggle is that the designer has created a deep pale blue header in which the picture captions sit, rather than adjacent to each image. The excavations at Cosa provide valuable evidence not just for the physical remains of a Roman port, but for the social and economic framework within which it functioned. This volume provides a very accessible and attractive introduction to an interesting and important site. PAULA MARTIN
The Archaeological Excavation of the 10th century Intan Shipwreck (BAR International Series 1047). MICHAEL FLECKER 163 pp., 200 b&w figures BAR via Hadrian Books Ltd, 122 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 7BP, 2002, £30, ISBN 1-84171-428-3 This is an important publication for a number of reasons. The shipwreck in question, excavated in the northwestern Java Sea, Indonesia, in 1997, yielded a diverse and illuminating cargo from the 10th century. Michael Flecker provides an informed overview of nautical archaeology in Southeast Asia during the last two decades, and this is written from the basis of the author’s very extensive experience. More contentiously, this volume is an important contribution to debate about the role of the nautical archaeologist in a region where commercial salvors operate. Michael Flecker argues persuasively that in Southeast Asia (and other areas) where commercial salvage of shipwreck cargoes (treasure hunting) is sanctioned and encouraged by govern266
ments, and where intensive fishing operations including widespread hookah-diving make discovery and looting of wrecks near inevitable—that in these areas, and in the absence of adequately funded archaeological services, archaeologists must work with the commercial salvors, or accept the complete and irretrievable loss of huge amounts of material and data. More than 7,000 ceramic artefacts and 6,000 nonceramic artefacts (many made from metals) were logged during the Intan excavation. They originated from China, various parts of Southeast Asia and the Middle East. It is inferred with good reason that this represents entrepot trade from the Sriwijaya capital, Palembang, Sumatra, to Java. As a catalogue of the remarkable cargo this work perhaps reflects the constraints of working with commercial salvors. While the text descriptions seem adequate and the classification informed, each type of artefact is illustrated only with a photograph. The lack of profile drawings is regrettable; photographs do provide important information but they are no substitute for accurate drawings. At least one profile for each type would have considerably enhanced the usefulness of the catalogue, especially since it is not clear that the artefacts will be available for study in the future. Little of the Intan shipwreck’s hull structure survived to be excavated. From cargo deposition it is inferred that the hull was some 30 m long. Timber fragments show that Southeast Asian timbers were used and that hull planks were edge-dowelled together—the ship was clearly of Southeast Asian origin and given its date, very likely of lashed-lug construction. In discussing Southeast Asian shipbuilding traditions the author somewhat rearranges previous interpretations of the archaeology to produce tidy discrete groups. The Chinese examples of Manguin’s hybrid ‘South China Sea tradition’ are separated from the Southeast Asian examples making the type more limited in temporal and geographic range. It is stated that all dated, pre-14th century examples of lashed-lug construction show some use of stitching to join planks which is not quite correct. Leaving these nit-picking quibbles aside, a good over-view of Southeast and East Asian pre-modern shipbuilding is provided. NICK BURNINGHAM
The International Register of Historic Ships (Third edition) NORMAN BROUWER 383 pp., 21 colour & 300 b&w illustrations Chatham Publishing, 61 Frith Sreet, London W1V 5TA and Sea History Press, National Maritime Historical Society, Peekskill, New York, 1999, £50 pbk, ISBN 1-86176-101-5
those at Bon-Porte´ or in Place Jules-Verne at Marseilles: the construction of these ships, and of Marseilles JulesVerne 7 (a hybrid stitched/tenon cargo-carrier of the late sixth century), is discussed by Patrice Pomey in a later section of the book. Pomey argues that the stitched fishing-boat, nine or ten metres in length, Jules-Verne-9, must be of local, presumably Greek, build, and so Bon-Porte´-1, a coastal trader some twelve metres long, must be Greek as well. By general extension it seems to follow that all the ships discussed in this volume were in some sense Greek, and that, while Etruscan goods have been found in various quantities at several wreck sites, we do not have any clear evidence for a distinctive Etruscan style of shipbuilding. One of the striking finds from the Grand-Ribaud-F wreck is the bottom of a cup, of uncertain origin (perhaps central Italy rather than Marseilles), inscribed with a graffito which might be Greek and could be a personal name or nickname: if this interpretation is correct, the ship seems to have very strong Greek associations. So the sea-going Etruscans seem to be elusive: but, in a concluding discussion, J-P. Morel rightly points out that Etruscans could well have bought or imitated Greek ships, if they did not merely charter them. Moreover, the catalogue entry for Pointe Lequin-1A wreck (by Luc Long and J-C. Sourisseau) is reticent on this issue: however, the cargo (datable 530– 510 BC) was almost all of Greek origin (and included multiple objects, suggesting some kind of ‘trade’) but the ship (represented by fragments apparently of the keel and a garboard) was, it seems, of tenoned plank construction. Perhaps even more detailed examination of all the surviving elements of these archaic ships, including consideration of woodland management, species section, metallurgy and other forensic information, could yet illuminate what might be a very complicated scenario. Furthermore, it emerges from discussions of the harbour of Marseilles by Antoinette Hesnard and of the early archaeology of the Phocæan colony of Massalia by Sourisseau that our view of how Etruscan goods arrived in southern Gaul may need revision. Etruscan goods were then brought to Gaulish sites including Marseilles even before the founding of the Greek colony there, and during the sixth century the very considerable amount of Etruscan material from (some sites in) Massalia may derive, if not from an Etruscan trading-post, perhaps from a shrine frequented by Etruscan traders or mariners. It follows that inferences about the ethnicity of ships or traders and about the social basis of the important and deposition of pottery or other finds need to involve a dynamic inspection of the links between wrecks, ship-remains, harbourdeposits and terrestrial assemblages; the present volume goes some way to stimulate and enable such a review, and herein lies its especial interest for maritime archaeology as a whole. The discipline of nautical archaeology is also well served in this volume by discussions of underwater sites and finds. The issue of ‘isolated finds’ is tackled head-on by Long, who gives a catalogue of supposed ‘stray’
Etruscan amphoras reported by divers over the years form the southern French coast. His conclusion is that in fact most of these finds do represent wrecks, and some system for rewarding divers for reporting loose finds is essential if potential new wreck sites are to be recorded. There is also a very clear account (unfortunately lacking a site-plan) by Hesnard of the Etruscan wreck which can be disentangled from the ‘graveyard of ships’ around ´ cueil de Miet (formerly the now-submerged rock of the E variously named in publications). Here, a collation of divers’ reports and some laborious site survey has established the identity of four different ancient wrecks, in poor condition and mostly overlain by the Batavia (1877). The shattered remains of Etruscan amphoras ´ cueil de Miet-3 do not make much of a collected from E ‘treasure’ or a ‘time capsule’, but in the context of this volume they supply a vivid addition to the picture of archaeology in and around Marseilles. As such, this well-illustrated, fully referenced and soberly argued book is a valuable addition to the literature of maritime archaeology, and it deserves to be widely read. A. J. PARKER
The Roman Port and Fishery of Cosa: a short guide (Full text in both English and Italian) ANNA MARGUERITE McCANN 78 pp., 121 illustrations, mostly colour Price US$16.95 or V15 American Academy in Rome, 2003, available from Oxbow Books, Oxford, OX1 1HN, UK, or David Brown Book Co, PO Box 511, Oakville, CT 06779, USA; Libreria Archeologica, via di S. Giovanni in Laterano, 46 ang. Via Ostilia 2, Roma 00184, Italy This slim volume may be intended as a portable guide for visitors to the site, but it is so clearly written and so thoroughly illustrated that it will also appeal to a much wider audience, providing a useful summary of the 1987 excavation report, and an update on certain aspects of the site. Pages 6–51 contain the English text, with all the illustrations, followed by the same text in Italian. Topics covered include the history of the site and its excavations, the historical and topographical setting, and the evidence for its three phases: 3rd to late-2nd century BC; late-2nd to 1st century BC; and 1st to 3rd century AD. Within these three main descriptive sections are explanations at appropriate points of underwater excavation techniques; the distribution of amphoras bearing the stamp of the Sestius family (and presumably made in Cosa) as illustrated by archaeological finds from both land and underwater sites; the management of the lagoon for breeding fish; and the wooden bucket-chain mechanism for lifting water, recently paralleled by finds in London. 265
NAUTICAL ARCHAEOLOGY, 32.2
Through a description of the site and its excavation, a picture is built up of this busy commercial port, and the range of industrial and other activities associated with it. Much of this may have been the enterprise of one family, the Sestii, who seem to have manufactured amphoras, possibly produced the wine and almost certainly produced the fish sauce to put in them, and may also have owned the ships into which these amphoras were loaded. A recurring theme is the importance of Cosa, and, particularly, the early date of much of its evidence: the earliest examples so far identified of pozzolana concrete; of a Roman lighthouse; of commercial fisheries; and, of a bucket-chain for lifting water. Also from Cosa has come the greatest concentration of Will type 1d amphoras found anywhere. All these claims are firmly based on archaeological evidence. Cosa in its middle period does seem to have been the ‘chief port for the export of wine and garum (the potent Roman fish sauce) to the western Mediterranean, especially to Gaul’. The photographs of the site and finds are complemented by plans and reconstruction drawings. Some of the illustrations are small, but they are of such high quality that this does not matter. My main niggle is that the designer has created a deep pale blue header in which the picture captions sit, rather than adjacent to each image. The excavations at Cosa provide valuable evidence not just for the physical remains of a Roman port, but for the social and economic framework within which it functioned. This volume provides a very accessible and attractive introduction to an interesting and important site. PAULA MARTIN
The Archaeological Excavation of the 10th century Intan Shipwreck (BAR International Series 1047). MICHAEL FLECKER 163 pp., 200 b&w figures BAR via Hadrian Books Ltd, 122 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 7BP, 2002, £30, ISBN 1-84171-428-3 This is an important publication for a number of reasons. The shipwreck in question, excavated in the northwestern Java Sea, Indonesia, in 1997, yielded a diverse and illuminating cargo from the 10th century. Michael Flecker provides an informed overview of nautical archaeology in Southeast Asia during the last two decades, and this is written from the basis of the author’s very extensive experience. More contentiously, this volume is an important contribution to debate about the role of the nautical archaeologist in a region where commercial salvors operate. Michael Flecker argues persuasively that in Southeast Asia (and other areas) where commercial salvage of shipwreck cargoes (treasure hunting) is sanctioned and encouraged by govern266
ments, and where intensive fishing operations including widespread hookah-diving make discovery and looting of wrecks near inevitable—that in these areas, and in the absence of adequately funded archaeological services, archaeologists must work with the commercial salvors, or accept the complete and irretrievable loss of huge amounts of material and data. More than 7,000 ceramic artefacts and 6,000 nonceramic artefacts (many made from metals) were logged during the Intan excavation. They originated from China, various parts of Southeast Asia and the Middle East. It is inferred with good reason that this represents entrepot trade from the Sriwijaya capital, Palembang, Sumatra, to Java. As a catalogue of the remarkable cargo this work perhaps reflects the constraints of working with commercial salvors. While the text descriptions seem adequate and the classification informed, each type of artefact is illustrated only with a photograph. The lack of profile drawings is regrettable; photographs do provide important information but they are no substitute for accurate drawings. At least one profile for each type would have considerably enhanced the usefulness of the catalogue, especially since it is not clear that the artefacts will be available for study in the future. Little of the Intan shipwreck’s hull structure survived to be excavated. From cargo deposition it is inferred that the hull was some 30 m long. Timber fragments show that Southeast Asian timbers were used and that hull planks were edge-dowelled together—the ship was clearly of Southeast Asian origin and given its date, very likely of lashed-lug construction. In discussing Southeast Asian shipbuilding traditions the author somewhat rearranges previous interpretations of the archaeology to produce tidy discrete groups. The Chinese examples of Manguin’s hybrid ‘South China Sea tradition’ are separated from the Southeast Asian examples making the type more limited in temporal and geographic range. It is stated that all dated, pre-14th century examples of lashed-lug construction show some use of stitching to join planks which is not quite correct. Leaving these nit-picking quibbles aside, a good over-view of Southeast and East Asian pre-modern shipbuilding is provided. NICK BURNINGHAM
The International Register of Historic Ships (Third edition) NORMAN BROUWER 383 pp., 21 colour & 300 b&w illustrations Chatham Publishing, 61 Frith Sreet, London W1V 5TA and Sea History Press, National Maritime Historical Society, Peekskill, New York, 1999, £50 pbk, ISBN 1-86176-101-5