05 · Iberian Peninsula · Naval technology

Mazarrón 1

A sewn hull made from four different kinds of tree

The Mazarrón wreck preserves different woods, joints and repairs of its hull.

Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.

Historical reconstruction of a hull sewn from four different trees, Playa de la Isla, Mazarrón, Murcia, Spain, second half of the 7th century BCE — **DECLARED VISUAL RECONSTRUCTION · EXISTING EDITORIAL RESOURCE · TRACEKEEPERS**
Generated reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis
Declared visual reconstruction for museographic context; it is not a photograph of the original nor documentary evidence.

**DECLARED VISUAL RECONSTRUCTION · EXISTING EDITORIAL RESOURCE · TRACEKEEPERS**
Generated reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis
Declared visual reconstruction for museographic context; it is not a photograph of the original nor documentary evidence.

History and context

Off the coast of Mazarrón, a small wreck from the 7th century BCE reveals a calculated construction: cypress keel, Aleppo pine strakes, fig-tree frames and olive pegs. The resin sealed a hull designed to sail and be repaired with Mediterranean resources.

More than an abstract 'Phoenician' ship, it is an archive of gestures: choosing, bending, joining and caulking woods with distinct properties. Its scale returns protagonism to the carpenters and crews who made colonial contact possible.

The selection of four woods allows reading decisions that no naval treatise left: rigidity for the keel, workable planking for the sheathing and curved pieces capable of supporting it. The boat preserves a sequence of craft instead of the name of its carpenter.

Stitches, pegs and resin formed a maintainable system with tools and materials available on coastal scales. Its efficacy does not depend on comparing it with a modern vessel nor imagining a great ocean-going galley.

Evidence and interpretation

Documented fact: ARQVA identifies those species and techniques in Mazarrón 1, dated to the second half of the 7th century BCE. Interpretation and caution: the wreck belongs to the Phoenician horizon of the Iberian coast, but its wood does not allow assigning an individual ethnic identity to each builder. Expanded documented fact: ARQVA dates Mazarrón 1 to the second half of the 7th century BCE and identifies cypress, Aleppo pine, fig-tree and olive in concrete hull elements. Expanded interpretation and caution: The technique and Phoenician context characterise the wreck's horizon, but the wood does not reveal individual origin, language or ethnic affiliation of each builder and crew member.

Catalogue facts

Narrative date: Second half of the 7th century BCE
Location: Playa de la Isla, Mazarrón, Murcia, Spain
Material: Cypress · Aleppo pine · fig-tree · olive · resin
Context: Naval carpentry in a western colonial network
Curatorial reading: The documented fact and its interpretation appear separately in the evidence block.
Evidence: Archaeological context, materiality and chronology.
Caution: Do not convert stylistic diffusion or contact into political domination.
Documentary coverage: 2 museum, heritage, primary corpus or research sources for this stop.

A SHARED TOPIC, DIFFERENT MOMENTS

Objects connected through time

Follow a topic across the collections. A shared tag is a way to compare objects, not proof that one culture influenced another.

The order uses the midpoint of each approximate date range; ranges can overlap. Spacing does not represent elapsed time. Swipe, scroll or use the arrows. With the sequence focused, use ← / →, Home or End.

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Second half of the 7th century BCE

Mazarrón 1

Phoenicians

Second half of the 7th century BCE

Current record

Wood13 dated objects

8 / 13In the centre: Mazarrón 1

Also connected, without a comparable date (4)

These objects are not placed after the others: an unknown date does not mean a more recent object.

Memory in performanceBantu-speaking worlds · 19th–20th centuries and transmitted practice
Rice on stiltsYayoi Japan · Especially 1st–3rd centuries CE
Rome learns in terracottaEtruscans and Rome · End of the sixth century BCE
Tools in relationBatwa / Twa histories · ca. 1947

You can scroll the first group without JavaScript. The other topics are also available below.

Boats

Abydos Boats · ca. 3000 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Tribute to Assyria · c. 848 BCE · Phoenicians
Mazarrón 1 · Second half of the 7th century BCE · Phoenicians — You are viewing
Mazarrón 2 · Second half of the 7th century BCE · Phoenicians
Ivory with names · End of the 7th century–first half of the 6th century BCE · Phoenicians

Navigation

Abydos Boats · ca. 3000 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Mazarrón 1 · Second half of the 7th century BCE · Phoenicians — You are viewing
Mazarrón 2 · Second half of the 7th century BCE · Phoenicians

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Exchange and trade

Weights · ca. 2600–1900 BCE · Indus civilisation
Before the Hittites · c. 19th century BCE · Hittites
Kerma vessel · c. 1802–1640 BCE · Nubia, Kerma and Kush
Ivory in Nimrud · 9th–8th centuries BCE · Phoenicians
Motagua jade · c. 900–600 BCE · Maya worlds
The so-called ‘Priest of Cádiz’ · 7th century BCE · Phoenicians
The so-called ‘Priest of Cádiz’ · 7th century BCE · Iberians
The Gallery of the Conch Shells · Main use c. 800–500 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Mazarrón 1 · Second half of the 7th century BCE · Phoenicians — You are viewing
Mazarrón 2 · Second half of the 7th century BCE · Phoenicians
Ivory with names · End of the 7th century–first half of the 6th century BCE · Phoenicians
The inscription of Pistiros · 4th century BCE · Thracians
Yan knife-money in the Gojoseon sphere · 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Ancient China
Lead tablet · 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Iberians
A coin with the memory of a blade · 323–222 BCE · Gojoseon and early Korea
Ceramics that continued · Last third of the 2nd century BCE–1st century CE · Iberians
Roman glass oinochoe · Late 1st century BCE–early 1st century CE · Etruscans and Rome
Moulds for gold · 9th–11th centuries CE · Mande Worlds
Missing grave goods · 13th–15th centuries according to the heritage overview · Bantu-speaking worlds
Catalan Atlas · after 1375 and before November 1380 · Mande Worlds
Kilwa coin · 1482–1493 · Bantu-speaking worlds

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

A Kerma vessel deposited at Abydos · Second Intermediate Period · Ancient Egypt
Akrotiri · c. 1700–1500 BCE · Greek worlds
Clicks and contact · precolonial contacts with varying chronologies and subsequent continuity · Bantu-speaking worlds
Dia’s strata · 9th century BCE–2nd millennium CE · Mande Worlds
Indian Ocean Kiswahili · from the first millennium CE; major development in medieval and modern times · Bantu-speaking worlds
Jenne-jeno contexts · ca. 250 BCE–1400 CE · Mande Worlds
Kumbi Saleh · medieval occupation; prominent phases between the 11th and 13th centuries · Mande Worlds
Lothal · ca. 2400–1600 BCE · Indus civilisation
Meluhha · ca. 2600–1900 BCE · Indus civilisation
Nile towards Nubia · ca. 3300–2800 BCE · Ancient Egypt
The Banquet of Seuthes II · Towards 400 BCE. Anabasis episode · Thracians
Travelling objects · Mainly Roman period · Garamantes

A closer look

About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: September 5, 2026.

What parts allow reconstructing the assembly

The individual hull record conserves nine strake fragments and four frames, besides a keel of 3.98 metres and part of a sheer strake. On the keel's sides numerous mortises, tongue remnants and almost all its pegs remain: cavity, inserted piece and fixation can be contrasted materially. The frames were fastened by stitching. This combination is not a reconstruction based solely on ship drawings. The catalogue also notes an important absence: Mazarrón 1 does not conserve cargo, so its technical documentation is much more complete than that of its last transport.

Museum · ARQVA / CERES · Hull of the Mazarrón 1 boat, MZ-B1-MNAM-2Access recorded: September 5, 2026.

Where it is held

National Museum of Underwater Archaeology · ARQVA

Item or group in the record · Documented collection

The holding institution is documented; public display may change. Check its official record before visiting.

Sources and references

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Mazarrón 1

History and context

Evidence and interpretation

Catalogue facts

Objects connected through time

Mazarrón 1

Shigir Idol

Holmegaard bow

Abydos Boats

Royal Game of Ur

Standard of Ur

Maya's cubit

Wooden faces

Mazarrón 1

Mazarrón 2

Bow and arrows in a case

Kuba ndop

19th-century kora

Lukasa

A closer look

What parts allow reconstructing the assembly

Where it is held

National Museum of Underwater Archaeology · ARQVA

Sources and references

Did you enjoy this exhibit?