2,000-year-old shipwreck yields hundreds of jars

Knoxville News Sentinel ^ | November 19, 2006 | Daniel Woolls

[SunkenCiv]

• THE FIND: The wreck of a first-century vessel carrying delicacies to the wealthy during the Roman Empire lay for 20 centuries in waters just off the Spanish coast, until it was discovered in 2000.
• THE CARGO: Its cargo of an estimated 1,500 well-preserved clay amphoras has been found to have contained fish sauce - a prized condiment for wealthy Romans - and includes traces of fish bones, archaeologists said.
• SIGNIFICANCE: The size of the ship, good condition of its cargo and its easy accessibility in just 80 feet of water are providing important insights.

[SunkenCiv]

There was a USA Today article last week, which we can't use, but luckily this came along.

---

---

[SunkenCiv]

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. Thanks.

Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)

[Hawthorn]

> Its cargo of an estimated 1,500 well-preserved clay amphoras has been found to have contained fish sauce - a prized condiment for wealthy Romans <

Interesting! I thought fish sauce was exclusively a Chinese-Vietnamese-Thai-Filippino madness!

[shadowcat]

Fish Sauce......

It can't go bad because it already has!

[Hegemony Cricket]

My car tells me that the door is a jar - I just don't understand...

[SunkenCiv]

Nope, it was very popular in Roman times. Generically called liquamen, the best known Roman-era brand was Garum; that was made by a family (Garus I think) which thrived in and around the Bay of Naples.

[SunkenCiv]

Cars are too pushy nowadays, unless they break down, in which case it's the other way around.

[Delta 21]

More Here with a pic.

Dont know what took them so long. 80 feet of water is a leisurely rec dive.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks!

[SWAMPSNIPER]

Can I just have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?

[Delta 21]

When they say "fish sauce" they really mean it!

......flashbacks to the Ronco Bass-O-Matic 76.

Aint modern technology a wonderful thing.

[PzLdr]

Romans called it garam. Apicius' Cookbook uses it in a lot of recipes.The Romans apparently used the for the same purpose southeast Asians do - as an economical, rich source of protein in their diet.

[Judith Anne]

Dont know what took them so long. 80 feet of water is a leisurely rec dive.

That's what caught my eye. How was this just discovered? Was something hiding it?

[Rte66]

Think *Worcestershire sauce* instead! Yummmmm.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

"Was something hiding it"?

---

Maybe a big cloud of murky, smelly water!

[FastCoyote]

"The ship, estimated to be 100 feet long with a capacity for around 400 tons of cargo, is twice the size of most other Roman shipwrecks found in the Mediterranean, de Juan said in an interview with The Associated Press."

How can it be that ships this size never took a jaunt across the Atlantic, given 400 tons of cargo will keep a crew fed for quite a while?

[Hatteras]

Sounds like a Geraldo find. Fishsauce?

[Delta 21]

Good god, Man. Get ahold of yourself !

.

[SunkenCiv]

The Romans moved 200+ ton quarried stone objects to Rome from Egypt, so these 400 ton displacement vessels were not rare. Until modern times, I don't think anyone moved larger cargoes by sea than the Romans.

Regarding American voyages, here's a topic or two about that very idea, right here on FR.

Romans In Brazil During The Second Third Century?
Mysterious Earth
Posted on 12/10/2003 8:37:14 PM EST by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1038045/posts

Romans in Brazil During the Second or Third Century? [oops!]
Mysterious Earth | June 20, 2003 | "Michael"
Posted on 10/17/2004 10:47:13 PM EDT by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1248340/posts

Ancient Romans In Texas?
Science Frontiers online | Nov-Dec 1993 | William Corliss
Posted on 04/14/2002 9:23:47 AM EDT by Hellmouth
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/665767/posts

[SunkenCiv]

Did they? Didn't they? They didn't! They did.

The debate is a fishsauce circle.