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A mediaeval shipwreck , possibly fate by spoiled conditions and its heavy consignment of pit cargo , including mortar , caldron and gravestones , is now getting whizz handling as maritime archaeologists begin efforts to uphold its cadaver off England ’s southern coast , amid Apocalypse that it is the honest-to-god nearly - entire wreck in the land .
A team led by dive - boat captain Trevor Small , who key out the thirteenth - 100 cargo ship ’s shipwreck in 2019 , and Tom Cousins , a diving and maritime archeology officeholder at Bournemouth University in the U.K. , start up a newfangled series of dives last workweek at the " Mortar Wreck " near the southerly English seaport of Poole .
The “Mortar Wreck” in Poole Bay on the south coast of England has been recognized as the oldest nearly-intact shipwreck in the country, dating from the middle of the 13th century.
The wreck earn its name from the many " trench mortar " bowls , used for grind and made of local stone , that the ship was carrying when it sank ; more than 20 mortars of different sizes have now been see there , and it ’s probable there are many more .
Despite surviving the 100 , the clay of the Mortar Wreck now face a new obstacle . The shifting sands at the bottom of Poole Bay recently uncover several parts of the wooden Cordell Hull , which will in all probability deteriorate rapidly now that they have been expose to the water , Cousins told Live Science .
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The wreck takes its name from the many stone “mortars” (vessels used for grinding) that the ship was carrying when it sank. Analysis shows they were made from local Purbeck stone, which was famous for its quality.(Image credit: Bournemouth University)
In reply , the underwater diver are " sandbagging " the exposed part of the hull — that is , covering them with sandbags so that sand from the seafloor will cumulate over them and protect the shipwreck until maritime archaeologists can return to the site for a full excavation , he said .
The latest dives come as the British governing has granted the wreck the highest level of official trade protection , according to the heritage delegacy Historic England .
The agency observe that the Mortar Wreck is the oldest - known wreck in English waters where Cordell Hull remains are visible . A few erstwhile wreck sites date from the Bronze Age ( 2500 B.C. to 700 B.C. ) — such as at Salcombe in Devon , as BBC News reported — but their wooden hulls are decompose away and only token from their cargoes remain .
As well as the many stone mortars and raw marble — probably for the facings of cheaper stone — the medieval ship was also carrying several large stone cauldrons for cooking.(Image credit: Bournemouth University)
Heavy cargo
captain and plunger Trevor Smallfirst detect sonar indication of the Mortar Wreck beneath his boat in 2019 . He tell Live Science that he ’d on a regular basis made the same voyage over several years , but had seen nothing there before , so it was likely that a tempest had exposed the wreck by pitch the sands in Poole Bay .
" Usually something like that becomes uncovered due to bad conditions — and then when there ’s a new structure on the bottom , it gets populate by Pisces life very speedily , " he said . " So that make you think that there is something there . "
Investigations showed the ship was carrying mortars , stone cauldrons , gothic I. F. Stone gravestones and raw marble from the nearby Isle of Purbeck — an area famous for the calibre of its limestone , Small distinguish Live Science .
Among the discoveries on the Mortar Wreck are several ornate and highly-polished gravestones made from Purbeck marble and decorated with Christian designs.(Image credit: Bournemouth University)
It ’s not known exactly why the vessel dip , but it ’s likely that it founder after a sudden variety in the weather .
" They must have had a very gravid load , and it may be that they were just pay back clear of the protection of the coastline when they were hit by a changing wind , " he state .
Poole Bay in that area is not very deep — the Mortar Wreck lies at a depth of about 32 feet ( 10 cadence ) below the Earth’s surface — and so the ship may have ground in the forged weather and started use up on water until it go down , Small said .
Gravestones of Purbeck marble were highly prized at this time and finding them is extremely rare; their discovery is said to have rewritten the scientific understanding of how they were made.(Image credit: Bournemouth University)
Medieval shipping
Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree - pack analysis of the exposed timbers show they were made of Irish oak tree — a Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree mintage that also produce in England — that had been felled between 1242 and 1265 , during the reign of the English King Henry III , Cousins said .
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It ’s rare for submerged wood to live for very long ; and the shipwreck ’s remarkable state of preservation seems to be , in part , thanks to the soft Amandine Aurore Lucie Dupin on the floor of Poole Bay , which cover the hull soon after the sinking feeling , he remark .
Initial analysis show that the ship was credibly about 65 feet ( 20 m ) long , and equip with a single mast . Such ship would have been relatively common along the English sea-coast during the Middle Ages , while their shallow draft — the relatively minor distance between their water line and keel , or load cargo hold — meant they could also navigate along the country ’s major river , such as the Thames , Trent and Ouse . " They were the theodolite vans of their time , " Cousins said .
The Mortar Wreck was probably intending to carry its load of Purbeck stone to cities and church organisation farther east in England when it sank , he said .
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In addition to its many mortars and cauldrons , the wreck hold several ornate and highly - fine-tune gravestones made from Purbeck marble , Cousins said . The headstone themselves are very rare , with designs of Christian rood-tree within a circle ; andarchaeologistsat Bournemouth University say the unusual rock have rewrite expert ' understanding of just how such serious markers were produced , according to a reportby the Dorset Live news outlet . For exercise , they show that two different gravestone designs were in use at the same time , rather than at different prison term in history .
Cousins say that artifacts from the Mortar Wreck will go on display at the newly - rebuild Poole Museum as they are recovered and conserved .
Two other " exceptionally rarefied shipwrecks " near the Isle of Wight in the South of England received government protection at the same time as the Mortar Wreck . One is thought to have been postulate in the 1653 Battle of Portland , a naval involution during the First Anglo - Dutch War ; the other is opine to be the stiff of an armed merchandiser ship from the same period of time .
Originally published on Live Science .
