Researchers have released new footage of a 1,700-year-old shipwreck they unearthed from the seabed off the coast of Mallorca earlier this summer, which shows divers excavating 93 well-preserved jugs from the sunken Roman boat.
The jugs, known as amphorae (amphora for just one), are thought to contain wine, oil, fish sauce and salt, according to archeologists at the Balearic Institute of Maritime Archeology (IBEAM), which is handling the excavation.
The footage shows divers using their hands and suction hoses to carefully excavate the debris from around the amphorae, which were founded under a layer of silt in the partially-buried shipwreck.
Mallorca resident Felix Alarcon and his wife first spotted pottery shards from the jugs near Can Pastilla in July, IBEAM says.
The shipwreck is just a few metres off the coast of the popular tourist beach known as S’Arenal, so the Spanish government enlisted IBEAM to quickly excavate the wreck on an emergency basis.
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Mallorca officials announced the successful operation at a news conference last Thursday.
The jugs were sent to the Museum of Mallorca, where experts will use special techniques to remove the saltwater and restore the containers.
IBEAM says it’s already contacted experts to examine the contents of the jugs, and to analyze fragments of wood recovered from the timber shipwreck. The organization plans to publicize its findings within a few months.
The boat is thought to have been a Roman merchant vessel that sank close to shore while ferrying goods between Mallorca and mainland Spain.
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