Identification of wood used in the construction of the two horeiae-type vessels Toulon 1 and 2 (1st century AD, France)
Résumé
During the archaeological excavation of the ancient harbour of Telo Martius (Toulon, France) in 1985-1988, the remains of five Roman vessels were uncovered. They were recovered and conserved by impregnation with PEG and lyophilisation and are now stored by the Regional Service for Archaeology in Aix-en-Provence. In 2010, the systematic study of the shipwreck collection started under the direction of G. Boetto within the framework of the final publication of the excavations. Two of the five wrecks, Toulon 1 and 2, correspond to small boats used as harbour lighters or for fishing. They were reused, after being filled with stones, to build a jetty at the end of the 1st century AD. These boats, characterised by a transom bow, belong to the horeiae-type vessels known from the Tunisian mosaic of Althiburus (2nd c. AD). The others three shipwrecks, abandoned in the 3rd century AD, correspond to bigger sailing vessels. The poster will present the results of the analyses of the wooden structures of the two horeiae-type vessels Toulon 1 and 2 in comparison with dendrological data from vessels of the same architectural and functional type found in Naples and Ostia.