Shipwrecks Mazarrón 1 and 2

Shipwrecks Mazarrón 1 and 2

In 1993, the project " Phenician Ship Project" started by the National Museum of Maritime Archeology on Playa de la Isla (Mazarrón), after the discovery of Phoenician remains of what could be a ship. From October of 1993 to December of 1995 the first campaign was carried out. Its main objectives were: to prospect all the bay in search of any archaeological evidence and to excavate the Phoenician shipwreck ( Mazarrón 1) with the last objective to transfer it to the Museum .

More than 70,000 square meters were searched for any evidence and during the course of the project the second Phoenician ship (Mazarrón 2) was detected in the spring of 1994. At that time a small survey was carried out in the central part of the Ship to evaluate the importance of the discovery. In this tasting was detected that the ship was sealed by a layer of posidonia, confirming that we had a boat of intact pre-Roman chronology. The ship was covered in the hope of being able to undertake its study later.

Shortly thereafter, on 30 June 1995, the ship Mazarrón 1 was taken to the museum premises for study and restoration by the restorers of the Museum, based on impregnation in polyethylene glycol and lyophilization.

Between 1999 and 2000, the excavation of the wreck Mazarrón 2 was carried out. In this campaign, the stratigraphic levels that sealed the archaeological levels were erected. The "Strong Box" was installed to protect the wreck until today. All the cargo was carefully numbered and documented through photography and drawing. After these operations the materials were extracted to immediately enter the restoration laboratory. Then, the documentation was made, by means of a drawing in scale 1: 1.

From 2007 onwards, the National Museum of Underwater Archeology once again took over the project, in order to update the existing graphic documentation with new techniques and digital processes that generated a new file in digital format, allowing a 3D restitution of the Phoenician boat and a scale replica of it for the exhibition of the new Museum.