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Three apparently well-preserved shipwrecks dating back to Roman times were brought to light near Piazza Municipio in Naples (Italy), during the excavation for the construction of Line 1 of the subway. The shipwrecks were covered by marine sand and silt, below the water table. In order to establish the nature and the extent of wood degradation and, therefore, determine how best to preserve the shipwrecks, a diagnostic investigation was carried out. The study involved the identification of wood species, chemical characterization of the residue component and physical and micro-morphological characterization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents the results of a diagnostic survey on the shipwrecks from the archaeological site of the ancient harbour of San Rossore (Pisa, Italy). The original waterproofing, caulking and painting materials were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), gas chromatography – mass spectrometry (GC–MS), energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis (EDX) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The major constituents of the waterproofing and caulking materials detected on the planks were tricyclic abietanes showing a high degree of aromatization. These compounds are indicative of a pitch obtained from the wood of trees of the Pinaceae family. The analysis of the organic components of the paint samples revealed diterpenoid acids characteristic of Pinaceae resins together with linear long-chain alcohols and fatty acids, highlighting the presence of beeswax. Noticeably, the characteristic odd carbon number alkanes that are normally present in beeswax were not detected. The EDX and XRD analyses showed that hematite, calcite, cerussite and kaolinite were employed as pigments to paint the ships’ hulls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the excavation of the Etruscan and Roman harbour of Pisa, several shipwrecks were found. The wooden timbers constituting the ship C and ship F (which date back to the first and the second century A.D., respectively, as attested by archaeological findings) were selected in order to collect information about the technological knowledge of the time. Pinus pinaster Aiton was essentially utilised for the planking of ship C and Quercus sp. caducifolia for that of ship F. The choice of timber for the other parts of ship C hull was much more differentiated. Ship C seems to be built in a careful way and its characteristics when added to its overall lightness, seem to reflect its use as a higher capacity boat built for sea sailing. Ship F seems more linked to short voyages in inner fresh waters. The utilisation of different woods was linked not only to the technological characteristics of wood, but also to their easy availability. Palynological analysis, carried out on the clay sediments embedding the shipwrecks, has shown that the flora of Pisa area in that time period would have allowed the acquisition of all the timber species used for both the ships’ construction, with the exception of the fig wood. However, a foreign origin of the timber from somewhere else in the Northern Mediterranean area has not been excluded. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]