The rescue of the derelict from Les Fontanelles ends after 1,700 years underwater

PalmaThe wreck of Fontanelles is now completely out of the sea. The extraction this Monday of the last large portion of the hull puts an end to four months of a delicate archaeological operation that will allow for the integral conservation of one of the best-preserved Roman ships in the western Mediterranean.

The intervention culminated with the lifting of the last section of the hull using a flotation balloon system. The piece was towed to the Sant Antoni de la Platja Maritime Club, where a crane extracted it from the water to load it onto a low-loader truck that transported it to Sant Carles Castle. It will remain there for approximately a year and a half, submerged in desalination pools, before starting the definitive restoration process.

The archaeological campaign began on March 10 with about fifteen specialists from the University of the Balearic Islands, the University of Barcelona, and the University of Cadiz. During these months, they have dismantled the vessel piece by piece, from top to bottom and from the outside inwards, to fully recover all the remains of the ship.

In parallel to the hull extraction, archaeologists have excavated a perimeter of between six and seven meters around the wreck. This work has made it possible to recover a collection of materials of great scientific value that will help reconstruct both the history of the vessel and the circumstances of its sinking, in the 4th century AD.

Among the findings are several almost complete amphorae that would have been part of the cargo, fragments of decorated fine tableware, North African cooking pottery, a pot used on board, remains of fauna, four anchors—some still retain their original knots—, nearly 90 meters of the vessel's ropes, two complete baskets of plant fiber, a pulley, and a sounding lead, the instrument used to measure depth and know the characteristics of the seabed.

The ship's sails

One of the most unique finds are the remains of the ship's sails, located on the port side and partially under the hull. Although the linen fabric is very deteriorated, researchers have been able to document how the sails were made, with the joining of various cloths and a system of ropes, knots, and reinforcements that gave them strength.

The recovery of the wreck does not close the project, but rather opens a new stage of scientific work. Once the desalination process is finished, the timbers will be transferred to the ARQVAtec laboratory of the National Museum of Underwater Archaeology of Cartagena, where they will undergo conservation treatments by impregnation with polyethylene glycol (PEG) and freeze-drying. In parallel, specialists will study the naval architecture of the ship, identify the wood species used in its construction, determine its dating with radiocarbon tests, and catalog all the recovered material.

This set of studies should allow for a much more detailed reconstruction of navigation, shipbuilding techniques, and the commercial routes of the Mediterranean during the Late Roman Empire.

With the extraction of the last part of the hull, the most complex phase of the archaeological project is closed. The Consell de Mallorca has announced that in November it will inaugurate an exhibition at the La Misericòrdia Cultural Center dedicated to the Fontanelles wreck, which will explain both the history of the vessel and the recovery process developed during these past months.