06 · Wreck · Full Cargo

Mazarrón 2

Lead ingots under an intact basket

The ship sank with lead ingots and utensils from its crew, including a basket and a mill.

Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.

Specific historical recreation of Lead Ingots under an intact basket, 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

Mazarrón 2 reached the seabed with its cargo of lead ingots, amphora, hand mill, esparto ropes, basket and anchor. The concentration of objects does not depict a heroic adventure: it shows the ordinary work of transporting metal along coastal stretches.

Each element allows reconstruction of life on board, from grinding food to steering the vessel. It also reminds us that underwater archaeology requires time: the ship was documented and protected for decades before its extraction for conservation in 2024.

The anchor, ropes, basket and mill turn the wreck into a halted work unit, not a display case of separate pieces. Their spatial association helps distinguish navigation equipment, provisions and cargo.

The recent conservation and extraction form part of the ship's biography: documenting it underwater before moving it preserved relationships that an isolated ingot would have lost forever.

Evidence and interpretation

Documented fact: ARQVA documents a wreck from the 7th century BCE with a main cargo of lead and exceptionally preserved naval equipment. Interpretation and caution: the exact route, destination port and crew identity remain unknown. Documented expansion: ARQVA records in Mazarrón 2 a main cargo of lead together with amphora, mill, ropes, basket and anchor within a hull from the 7th century BCE. Expanded interpretation and caution: The assemblage confirms coastal transport, but does not fix the departure port, final destination, ownership of the ingots or the specific cause of the shipwreck.

Catalogue facts

Narrative date: Second half of the 7th century BCE
Location: Playa de la Isla, Mazarrón, Murcia, Spain
Material: Wood · lead · esparto · ceramic · millstone
Context: Transport of metals and daily life on board
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.

You are viewing

Second half of the 7th century BCE

Mazarrón 2

Phoenicians

Date of the shipwreck and its context; the cargo brings together several objects.

Current record

Wood13 dated objects

9 / 13In the centre: Mazarrón 2

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
Mazarrón 2 · Second half of the 7th century BCE · Phoenicians — You are viewing
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
Mazarrón 2 · Second half of the 7th century BCE · Phoenicians — You are viewing

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
Mazarrón 2 · Second half of the 7th century BCE · Phoenicians — You are viewing
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

Lead

Mazarrón 2 · Second half of the 7th century BCE · Phoenicians — You are viewing
Lead tablet · 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Iberians

A closer look

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

The plant bed separating cargo and wood

The 1999–2000 excavation removed the cargo in layers, starting at the bow, continuing to the stern and ending in the central zone. Each fragment received a number and was photographed before being lifted. Beneath the successive layers of mineral appeared a thick groat that protected the ship; the granite mill was located on the cargo, near the central stern sector. This arrangement matters as much as the list of objects: it shows a functional separation between heavy metal, bottom protection and accessible equipment. The documentation allowed later reconstruction of the position of each removed element.

Research · Ana I. Miñano Domínguez · The Mazarrón 2 Boat, 1999–2000 campaignAccess 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 2

History and context

Evidence and interpretation

Catalogue facts

Objects connected through time

Mazarrón 2

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

The plant bed separating cargo and wood

Where it is held

National Museum of Underwater Archaeology · ARQVA

Sources and references

Did you enjoy this exhibit?