How was a 2,000 Year Old Ship Built?
A story of the discovery and excavation of a mid-third century BCE Punic shipwreck, led by Honor Frost, a pioneer in the field of underwater archaeology
By Honor Frost Foundation
Archive images copyright of the Honor Frost Archive, Special Collections, University of Southampton
Punic Ship Timbers (1971-08-20) by Honor FrostHonor Frost Foundation
How was the punic ship built?
The ship was constructed “shell first”: that is, the transversal frames and floor timbers were inserted after the hull shell of planking was erected on either side of the central keel. The planks were held together by oak tenons inserted into mortises along the plank edges, and pegged.
The planking was made from pine and the frames from oak and maple. The original vessel is estimated to have been between 25 and 35 meters long, about 4.8 meters wide, and between 2 and 2.7 meters high -- a sleek, fast ship. Evidence suggests that the ship was quickly built and still new when it met its demise.
Lead Sheathing (1973)Honor Frost Foundation
Sheathing
The outer hull planking was protected from marine wood-boring organisms by a layer of lead sheathing that was in an exceptionally bad state of preservation due to the effects of the salt water.
The outer hull planking was protected from marine wood-boring organisms by a layer of lead sheathing that was in an exceptionally bad state of preservation due to the effects of the salt water.
Phoenicio-Punic letterings and markings (1972) by Honor FrostHonor Frost Foundation
Evidence of prefabrication
Perhaps the greatest discovery involved the over one hundred painted and incised markings on the timbers. These were carefully studied by epigraphist William Johnstone, who confirmed Honor's idea that they related to the Phoenicio-Punic alphabet.
He determined that they had served to guide the Punic shipwrights in the hull construction sequence.
Together, these findings point to a system of prefabrication - the first ever identified in an ancient vessel, although hinted at in ancient literary sources.
This exhibition was created by the Honor Frost Foundation, archive images are courtesy of the Honor Frost Archive, Special Collections, Hartley Library, University of Southampton.
The Regional Archaeology Museum of Lilybaeum-Marsala
The Alagna Family and the Cantine Pellegrino winery of Marsala
Claire Calcagno, Independent Scholar
Giulia Boetto, Centre Camille Julien, Aix-Marseille University, CNRS
Grant Cox, Artas Media
Lauren Tidbury, Honor Frost Foundation
Lucy Blue, Honor Frost Foundation
Mateusz Polakowski, University of Southampton
Pat Tanner, 3D Scanning Ireland Ltd/University of Southampton
References
Frost, H. et al., 1981, Lilybaeum (Marsala). The Punic Ship: Final Excavation Report. Notizie degli scavi di antichita, Supplement to Vol. 30 (1976), Serie Ottava. Rome: Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei.
