Assonet - Underwater Archaeology - The Ponza cargo ship

THE PONZA CARGO SHIP

by Mario Mazzoli - A.S.S.O. - published on MONDO SOMMERSO magazine - 1992 March

Last year, one of our partners called ASSO, at Ponza told us about the presence, in the port, of fregments of keel planking, surrounded by broken pottery, of mainly Ancient Roman origin. We should not forget that ports like Ponza have provided the background for thousands of years of transport, becoming repositories for both important and worthless material, typical of marine activity. We were led to the place where, among broken pottery, amunition from the second world war. "Bourbon" ceramics and modern refuse, the projecting frame of a wooden ship could be seen. We took some photos, measurements and samples of the ceramics, reserving ourselves the right to study them during the winter.

We pointed out the find to the Head of the Archaelogical Monuments and Fine Arts Service fo Latium, waiting for a good opportunity to carry out a more in-depth study. This opportunity, or rather encouragement, came from two directions. One was the enlarging of the port completely: the other, incredible yet true, came from some local people. Worried that the works would damage the site, they bombarded us with telephone calls and it was ilttle use telling them that the Archaelogical Monuments Service for Latium had instructed the contractors not to causa any damage.

To tell the truth, we were very interested in the work, which offered a rare opportunity of studing an ancient frame in such shallow (a maximum of 7.50 metres) and calm water. However, we were hindered by other commitments and above all worried by the scarce logical support we would have come across, as usual.

Pino Juliano came to collect on a Sunday in March when, in port, we were placing the apnoea equipment of the dinghies before returning to Rome. Pino, who runs the Noi e il mare (The Sea and us) diving center, was one of the promoters of the work and, as he was a member of ASSO, he was well aware of our intentions.

"Everything is OK, guys, i have had the confirmation i was waiting for. You bring the technical equipment and Noi e il mare will arrange the rest!". He was right. Today, on reflection we can say that we have seen few operations so well followed. It was a contest of collaboration and charm which will remind us of this site not only as a useful and interesting underwater archaelogy job but also as a very interesting human and business experience.

The expression "business" could seem out of place but is important. ASSO is made up of voluntary workers who carry out these operations, availing them-selves of their own resources or those of external sponsors. When there are a lot of small sponsors, professionalism and respect are involved in getting them together so that their contributions are adequately used and controlled without overlapping. In order to achieve this delicate equilibrium, a certain amount of entrepreneurship and knowledge of the market are indipensable.

After accurate planning around a table, Claudio Buschi, Pasquale Patrono, Bernardino Rocchi, Ruggero Ruggeri, Sandro Servili, Marco Vitelli and I left in early June, with a couple of cars, a dinghy and a UAZ all-terrain vehicle loaded with equipments and divers. The equipment served for integrating with what was already at the premises which the Ponza Council has for some time allowed us to use as a store for "bulky" items. There were some prestigious collaboratora with us: the Underwater Nuleus of the Italian Carabineer Force.

A relationship based on respect and professionalism has been established with them for some time which began, by means of the Archaelogical Monuments and Fine Arts Service for Latium, when as the Central Headquarters of the ArcheoClub of Italy we excavated the Secca dei Mattoni cargo ship, also at Ponza. The patronage of Mondo Sommerso magazine has been added to this important contribution ad to that of the sponsors.

The work site was set out in two main areas, one underwater and the other on land. Given the nearness of the wreck to the shore, the land site was instalied on the wharf being built, where the heavy equipment had been placed such as the road compressors, frames, Innocenti pipes, irons, spare parts, diver sacks, the UAZ vehicles and the Carabineer's van. The pump of the water suction pipe, kindly provided by Cantieri Parisi, was successively shifted, owing to problems of yeld, onto a "Ciccio Nero" boat anchored at the site. Everything was characterized by the ASSO and Mondo Sommerso banners.

From an underwater point of view the work was not very difficulted technically, but some problems had to be faced. The main ones were the height and solidity of the sand and mud dune which covered the hull, the visibility on some very bad days, the arrival and departure of ferryboats which methodically covered over again what we were busy surveying and, last but not least, the contamination.....kindly offered by neighbouring drains.

The hardness of the dune was first of all attacked with a water jet and then a carpenter's saw and a heavy suction pipe. We had to endure the poor visibility, ferryboats and pollution all the time, placing between us and them a complete series of pharmacological remedies (for the pollution) and artisan for the rset such as, for example, a clear water cone visor for photograping details. Two sustion pipes were installed to carry out the sounding. The air one, which discharged onto the surface of the water, driven by the road compressor, and the water one which discharged onto the sea bed, driven by an irrigation pipe installed on a wooden boat. The suction pipe, like the structures and the survey grid, were designed and made by Bernardino Rocchi, the owner of Hobby Mare at Frascati (Rome).

The objective was to uncover a significant portion of the hull, survey it, date it, assess its importance and cover it up again.

By organizing work shifts from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., ASSO and Carabineers succeeded in this intent, working full out for about ten days. A portion of the frame was surveyed measuring 8 metres by 5, starting from the uncovered part and moving towards the dune situated above the site, removing a large part. The wreek, oriented 315 degrees towards NW, was at an average depth of 6.50 metres and appeared to be impressive and in an acceptable state of preservation.

Among the planking we came across a great quantity of fragments of cargo: wine, oil land garum amphorae, ceramic stoppers and crockery. Among the amphorae, fragments of Dressel 8 stand out in terms of quantity, destinated to conatin garum.

On a fragment of these we came across a titulus picto which, even if incomplete, seems to cite:

" ALEXANDRI, SILVANI ET OPTATI SERVUS"

This was the signature of the servant who dealt with "bottling" the garum.
Some ballast bowls, slabs and fragments of slate, ferrous masses, nails, some of which were also very large, fragments of Southern Gallic ceramics and black painted ceramics of the type A. A small aphora was found which measured 35 centimetres in height, probably the container of unspecified food supplies. Two wooden cylinders were very interesting with hollow cores, and bronze fins, which probably belonged to a system for drying out bilge water. A solid wooden disc with a hollow bronze core.

As has been said, there was a fairly considerable and varied amount of ceramic material found even though fragmented. It is what was lost or broken and blocked under the dunnage and among the planks, left to act as ballast and therefore the result of superimposing from various voyages. A careful successive study of these fragments would make it possible to obtain important indications concerning the routes followed by the ship.

With regard to wooden remains, it should be said that they are in an acceptable condition as far as the part we uncovered is concerned. The ramins already exposed to marine and human agents was devastated by the anchors and the propellers of the manoeuvering ferryboats. We have found some pieces of this second part, also of considerable size, at a distance of as much as a hundred metres approximately. It is a mighty structure, which must have sunk around about the first century AD. The frameworks is 21 centimetres high on an average and 19 centimetres wide, the planking of the sides is 6 centimetres thick. We have uncovered and surveyed 27 frame cross sections which have proved to us that it is an interesting discovery. After having filmed, photographed and surveyed the ship, with the help of an IBM LapTop 40SX computer, provided by IBM Semea, we have simulated the projection. A craft about 25 metres in length with a scarcerly pronounced keel emerges from this.

The results of this survey confirm our initial guess; a large cargo ship, stripped of its cargo by the urinatores, the divers of the time, or before sinking. A careful study of the ship could offer a valid contibution towards the documentation of Ancient Roman naval architecture. We are presently discussing this second phase and, thanks also to the usual willingness of the Archaelogical Monuments Service for Latium, we will attempt to go ahead with this in the future.

In the meantime we realize that the image of this operation is also successful. The choice of creating an open site, enabling everyone to look at the drawings and the working plans and ask for clarification and explanations, has been rewarding. We have received indications about potential sites and many expressions of understanding even if, after two days, we were forced to switch off the monitor which made it possible to observe the underwater works live, due to the struggle it caused. The official justification was that there had been a brakdown. the people interested will forgive us this little white lie, knowing that we were forced to have a person working full time in order to keep an eye on the gadget and answer questions.

In mid August. at the local tourist board in Ponza, an exhibition was held organized by ASSO, on the theme of "Ponza, underwater archaelogy and the voluntary service". This initiative, arranged by the Archaeological Monuments Service, the local tourist board and sponsored by Mondo Sommerso, was intended to offer visitors, by means of our films, photos, surveys, finds and the reconstruction of an underwater archaelogy site, the studies and emotions which have characterised these recent years of work at Ponza and to particularly emphasize the latest events.

In other words, we have sought to "involve" as many persons as possible in order to give the correct resonance to the contributions received, in the hope that this participation of a few people may convince the masses to appreciate our history a little more as well as the environment that surrounds us.

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