The
Salcombe Cannon wrecksite is close to two other designated wrecksites in the
Erme EstuaryErme Mouth is the point where the River Erme enters the English Channel, near to the Devon villages of Kingston to the east and Mothecombe and Holbeton to the west. Whilst the whole river is of historical importance, the estuary is a very interesting place. The are the owners of the estuary and...
which the South West Maritime Archaeological Group (SWMAG) was licensed to investigate. In 1992 this group described the Salcombe Cannon site as:
- "A cannon site with nothing else visible".
In 1994, following seabed changes, other
artifactsAn artifact or artefact is any object made or modified by a human. In archaeology, an artifact is an object recovered by some archaeological endeavor, which may have a cultural interest. Examples include stone tools such as projectile points, pottery vessels, metal objects such as buttons or guns,...
including
goldGold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. It has been a highly sought-after precious metal for coinage, jewelry, and other arts since the beginning of recorded history. The metal occurs as nuggets or grains in rocks, in veins and in alluvial deposits. Gold is...
were revealed and the SWMAG began recording the site.
The
Salcombe Cannon wrecksite is close to two other designated wrecksites in the
Erme EstuaryErme Mouth is the point where the River Erme enters the English Channel, near to the Devon villages of Kingston to the east and Mothecombe and Holbeton to the west. Whilst the whole river is of historical importance, the estuary is a very interesting place. The are the owners of the estuary and...
which the South West Maritime Archaeological Group (SWMAG) was licensed to investigate. In 1992 this group described the Salcombe Cannon site as:
- "A cannon site with nothing else visible".
In 1994, following seabed changes, other
artifactsAn artifact or artefact is any object made or modified by a human. In archaeology, an artifact is an object recovered by some archaeological endeavor, which may have a cultural interest. Examples include stone tools such as projectile points, pottery vessels, metal objects such as buttons or guns,...
including
goldGold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. It has been a highly sought-after precious metal for coinage, jewelry, and other arts since the beginning of recorded history. The metal occurs as nuggets or grains in rocks, in veins and in alluvial deposits. Gold is...
were revealed and the SWMAG began recording the site.
CoinsContextObjects in Spans, commonly abbreviated COinS, is a method of embedding latent OpenURL ContextObjects in the HTML code of Web pages. This allows client software to retrieve bibliographic metadata, e. g...
and jewellry dating between 1510 and 1636 have been recovered from the site and were purchased by the
British MuseumThe British Museum is a museum of human history and culture situated in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from...
in 1998. For two seasons information about the site was initially kept confidential between the
Receiver of WreckThe Receiver of Wreck, a post defined under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 is an official of the British government whose main task is to process incoming reports of shipwrecks in order to give legitimate owners the opportunity to retrieve their property and ensure that law-abiding finders of wreck...
, the finders and the Archaeological Diving Unit (working for the Advisory Committee on Historic Wreck). The site was designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act in 1997 when news about it was made public.
The vessel is unknown but is dated between 1630 and 1640, and it has yielded the largest ever find of
MoroccanA Moroccan is something of, from, or related to Morocco, a country in North Africa.The term may also refer to:* A person from Morocco, or of Moroccan descent. For information about the Moroccan people, see Demographics of Morocco and Culture of Morocco...
gold in Europe.
The site has been surveyed and recorded using traditional
surveySurveying or land surveying is the technique and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional space position of points and the distances and angles between them...
methods,
magnetometerA magnetometer is a scientific instrument used to measure the strength and/or direction of the magnetic field in the vicinity of the instrument. Magnetism varies from place to place and differences in Earth's magnetic field can be caused by the differing nature of rocks and the interaction...
, multi-beam sonar and
photo-mosaicPhotomontage is the process of making a composite photograph by cutting and joining a number of other photographs. The composite picture was sometimes photographed so that the final image is converted back into a seamless photographic print. A similar method, although one that does not use film,...
.
In 2004, divers working on this site discovered
Bronze ageThe Bronze Age of a culture is the period when the most advanced metalworking in that culture utilised bronze. This could either have been based on the local smelting of copper and tin from ores, or trading for bronze from production areas elsewhere...
artifacts, including
swordA sword is a long, edged piece of metal, used in many civilizations throughout the world, primarily as a cutting or thrusting weapon and occasionally for clubbing...
s,
axeThe axe, or ax, is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, harvest timber, as a weapon and a ceremonial or heraldic symbol...
s,
toolA broad definition of a tool is an entity used to interface between two or more domains that facilitates more effective action of one domain upon the other. The most basic tools are simple machines. For example, a crowbar simply functions as a lever. The further out from the pivot point, the more...
s, and ornaments. The finds date from around the 13th century BC and could be from the same source as the nearby Moor Sands finds. This
Salcombe B site has not been separately designated as it lies within the protected area of the Salcombe Cannon site.
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See also
- Archaeology of shipwrecks
The archaeology of shipwrecks is the field of archaeology specialised in the study and exploration of shipwrecks. Its techniques combine those of archaeology with those of diving....
- Underwater archaeology
Underwater archaeology is the study of past human life, behaviours and cultures using the physical remains found in salt or fresh water or buried beneath water-logged sediment. It is most often considered as a branch of maritime archaeology...
- List of designations under the Protection of Wrecks Act