Cape Fini sterre, fro m th e Latin

fi nis te rrae o r "end of the ea rrh ,"

is a fin ing name fo r th e sacred

p lace o n Spain 's northwes t coast in the

Ga li cia regio n . Ea rly pagan soc ieti es

wo rshipped th e sun he re, and C hri stians

have been making th e pilg rimage known

as El Camino de Samiago (The Way of

Sr. James) ro this locatio n since medi eva l

times . ll1e an cients ce lebrated Finisterre

(Fisterm in Ga li c ian) as th e final place o n

ea rth to see th e sun before it sank into the

ocea n depths.

"The cape itself ex tends from th e main ­

land in to th e North Atlanti c, threatenin g

navigat io n berween the so uth and north

of Europe, alo ng one of rh e most impo r­

tant maritime routes in the region. With

its rocky coas tline and reef~, brutal w inter

On the west coast of Galicia, Spain, archaeologists are studying and shedding new light on shipbuilding techniques, ship outfitting, and life onboard these vessels. BY JOSE LUIS CASABAN, MIGUEL SAN CLAUDIO, FILIPE CASTRO AND RAUL GONZALEZ

sto rms, dangerous currenrs, and dense

fogs this dangerous coastline is know n in

Spain as La Costa de lr1 M11erte (Coast of

D eath) and has become th e fina l res tin g

place for many ships, alo ng w ith their

passengers and crew.

One of the wo rst rna rir ime d isasrers to

occur in rhis area took place o n rh e ni ghr

o f October 28, 1 59G, when a storm rook

an armed Spanish fl eer by surprise oW Cape Fin isrerre. W ri rren sources revea l

rhat 25 ships were lost and m o re rha n

2000 men drown ed. -ll1e Heet had de-

paned from Lisbo n u nder rh e co mmand

oF Marri n de Padi ll a, and was co mposed

of about 80 large ships includin g gall eo ns

fro m Ragusa, no rrh ern hul ks, ll rlos, p,aliz­abra.r, and orher types of vessels. ·1 he Hecr

was head ing ro Ireland to disemb;nk an

ex pediti o nary arm y ro suppo rr the insur­

rection of rhe Count of .. l )none aga inst th(

English.

In rhe last dec1des of rh e 20th cenrury

A bronze pedrero found at Punta Restelos.

WWW.NAUTICALARCH.ORG ·

THE FINISTERRE PROJECT

AUTHORS

JOS LUIS CASAR N Ph.D. student, NAPffAMU and INA Research Associate

MIGUEL SAN CLAUDIO Archeonauta S.L.

FILIPE CASTRO Professor, NAPffAMU

.

'~ J .. A ~

RA L GONZ LEZ Archeonauta S.L.

16 INA QUARTERLY ~0 . 1 SPR ING 20 13

rh e remains of whar seem ed ro be one of

th e 15% shipw recks were discovered by

seafood ha rves ters ar Punta Res telos. In

2007, looting o f this shipwreck was de­

tecred and communica red ro rhe aurhori ­

ri es. -l11e Regio nal Governmenr of Ga lic ia

supponed a prel iminary archaeological

survey of rhe Punra Resrelos shipwreck

ro docum em rh e archaeo logica l remains.

' I he survey was conducted by rhe Spanish

archaeo logist Miguel San C laudio and his

C ultural Resource Manage ment (C RM)

f-irm Archeonaura S.L. ·-n1 e initi al archaeo­

logica l assessmenr allowed th e ream to

reco rd rh e visibl e remains o F rhe ship­

wreck as wel l as recover a rrifacrs in dange r

of disappea ring.

C laudio an d RaLd Go nz;ilez conducted

underwa ter and geophysical surveys of

a large po rtion of the Finisterre area.

Du ring the surveys, six more shipwrecks,

rh oughr robe par t o f th e Hee t o F 159G,

we re located rogerh er w ith shi pwrecks

from larer peri ods. lltese included rh e

h ench co rverre Ba)lonnaise, scurried by its

crew in 1803 to avo id capture by superior

English fo rces, and th e re mains of th e

Brirish steamer 55 Great Lillerpoo!, wh ich

sank in 184G after hirting a reef near C ape

hnisterre en route fro m Alexandria, Egypt

to Brita in.

Cap~ Finiswrre

®

PORTUGAL

• Sevi lle

In 20 I I , Ph . D. stucl enr Jose Lui s C asa­

b;in and Associate Pro fesso r Filipe C asrro

of the Nautical Archaeology Prograrn ar

Texas A& M University jo ined Miguel

San C laudi o ro co nducr furth er research

o n the 159G shipwreck remains docu­

menred at Pun ta Resrelos and rhe o rh er

I Gth cenrury shipw recks discove red in rhe

Finisterre a rea . -l11 e a rchaeo log ica l project

was offi c ially named Fin iste rre Project

in 201 2 when th e lnstirure o f Naut ical

Archaeo logy, rhe Ship Lab of th e Cenre r

For M aririme Archaeo logy and Co nse rva­

rion, and th e Anth ropology D epa rrm en r

at Texas A&M University lem th e ir sup­

port. 1 h e offi c ial d i recro rs of the Fin isre rrc

Project are Miguel San C la udi o, Jose Luis

Casab:in , and Filipe C astro.

ll1e o rig inal objecrive of rh e Finisrerre

Project was ro study rh e 1 Grh cenrury

shipw recks loca red in this area . However,

rh e initial project object ives ex panded

wirh th e discovery of exceptionally well

preserved hull remains o f another ship­

w reck p rov isio nall y dared ro rhe 1 Grh

ce n tury in th e Ribadeo inlet.

The Puma Res telos shipw reck is o ne of

the most impo rranr a rchaeo log ical sires

included in rh c Fini sterre Project. 1he

shipw reck is locared in rhe Sa rdiA eiro in lcr

near C ape Finiste rre, and rhe archaeo logi-

Bibao FRANCE

cal in ves ti ga tion conducted here since

2007 has yielded material s rhar can be

dared to rhe late I Grh century, suppo rtin g

rhe hypothes is rhar thi s ship was parr of

Padilla's a rm ed f-l eer of 1596.

' l11 e archaeo logical resea rch carried o ur

during 201 2 invo lved srudy of the rnateri ­

als recovered fro m rh e sire sin ce 2007,

which are displayed a t rh e Museo do Mar

de Galic ia. ' I hese include two carri age

wheels for a siege gun , boa r-shaped lead

ingo ts, medi cal syringes , a bronze mor­

tar, and a linstock. Once the preliminary

stud y of the materi als was complete, rhe

ream continued fi eldwo rk research on sire.

A new area of rh e Punta Res telos ship­

wreck was surveyed and mapped using

photogrammetry and traditional drawing

techniques as perm itted by rhe underwa­

te r visibili ty.

As mentio ned above, during the a rchae­

o logica l survey carri ed our in 2007 on the

Punta Res relos shipwreck, two carriage

w heels for a siege gu n were documented

and recovered. Wheel 0 I was exceptio n­

all y well prese rved , wh il e wheel 02 on ly

consisted of rh e outer wooden rim. Both

wheels have a di amete r of I .G m . Wheel

0 I was preserved with 12 spokes intact

and it was poss ible to observe the metal

concre tions produced by the iron sn akes

that reinfo rced the rim of the wheel. l11e

wheels documented at Punta Resrelos are

a lmost id emical to those recovered dur­

ing the excavat io n of the remains of rh e

Venetian ship La 7/·inidrul Vrdencera, one

of th e ships of the 1588 Spanish Armada.

During the excavation of that shipwreck,

Colin Martin documented rh e remains

of three dismantl ed siege gun ca rri ages

which included fi ve la rge 12-spo ked

wooden wheels with a diameter of 1. 5

m . They we re rransporred in rhe hold of

rh e ship to be used by rh e ex pedition -

ary army afte r landin g in England. ll1e

Top: Illustration of a late 16th century siege gun carriage (Archivo General de Simancas, Spain). Bottom: Roman numeral marks on a boat-shaped ingot.

THE FINISTERRE PROJECT

I

The archaeological research carried out during 2012 involved study of two carriage wheels for a siege gun, boat-shaped lead ingots, medical syringes, a bronze mortar and a linstock.

WWWNAUTICALARCH.ORG 17

THE FINISTERI'lE Pl'lOJECT

prese nce of rh e sarn e type of wheels in the

Pun ta Res rdos shipwreck sugges ts thar the

same co ncept can be appli ed in thi s case

since rh e objective of the 1596 Armada

of Marrin de Pad ill a was to deli ver an

ex ped itio nary ar my ro Ireland. ~!hi s type

of 12-s poked gun carriage wheel ca n be

observed in a comempora ry drawing in

the llrchillo General de Sirnm·JcrH.

Boat~shaped lead ingots have also been

recove red From th e Punta Restelos ship­

w reck. ' I hese ingo ts arc similar ro those

documented in th e shipw recks of th e

Spa ni sh Arm ada of 1588 such as Santa Mflrirl de In Rom, U Cmn Crifim, and La G'iro11r1. Seven ingots, weighin g a total of

440 kg, were recovered fro m Punra Res­

telos. ll1ese ingo ts were likely used by th e

so ldiers of th e ex peditio nary army to cas t

bu ll ets for their muskets and arqu ebuses.

All th e ingo ts, except one, have a sim il a r

weight betwee n 1- 1.3 quintrdes (47-G 1

kg o r I 03- 134 lbs), wh il e the heaviest

ingo t weighs 2 .3 quintales ( I 09 kg o r 240

lbs). Five ingots have differem marks and

stamps o n th eir Aat su rfaces. The marks

include Roman numerals presumably re~

Ia ted to th e weight of the ingo ts although

th e co rrel ation is st ill under srudy. These

marks have also been documented o n

other ingo ts recove red from th e G ran

Annada shi pwrecks. ll1e stamps have

Seven lead ingots were recovered from the Punta Restelos shipwreck. Ingots were used by the soldiers of the expeditionary army to cast bullets for their muskets and arquebuses.

18 INA QUARTERLY 40. 1 SPR ING 20 13

been interp reted as trademarks of rh e

Weiser Eu11il y, o ne of the most important

European bankers of the 1 Gth century.

The Welsers we re represented by the le tter

W which has also bee n Found o n copper

and lead ingo ts recovered From the earl y

1 Gth century shipw reck Orrmjernund. The

archaeological team intends to conducr

isotop ic ana lysis of the ingots to deter~

rnin e th eir orig in and to co rrelate thi s

information w ith historical data prov ided

by th e study of th e ingots ' weights, marks,

and stamps.

ll1e Punta Res telos shi pwreck has also

provided three examples of two types of

medica l syringes made of brass shows o ne

of the sy ringes before an d after conserva­

t ion). l11e la rgest syringes were p robably

used in th e treatment of const ipation

o r Au x while th e small one was used to

irriga te wounds and treat sex ually tran s~

mined diseases such as go no rrh ea. They

we re an impo rtam part of th e med ical

equipment of the ship' s surgeo n and th ey

appea r in the list of medi ca l equipmem

loaded on two hulks of th e 1588 G ran Ar­

mada. Si milar syringes have been found in

other shipw recks such as the Orrtnjem11nd shipw reck (ca. 1530), Mary Rose ( 1545),

and Sea Venture ( 1609) . ll1eir smdy can

yield im ponant in formarion about med i­

ca l treatments o n board la te 1 Gth century

Spanish ships. The recove red syr inges were

treated by Victoria Folgueira, th e Fin is­

terre Project conservatO r, to ensure rhei r

preservarion . In 201 1, two pewrer dishes were doCll ­

menrcd and recove red to prevent the ir

being loored from th e site. Pew rer is an

all oy of zin c, lead and tin that was used

in the 16rh century to produce dish es ,

jars, tankards, and orher objects such

as syrin ges . Pewrer dishes on ships are

ge nerally associated with offi ce rs since

this mate ri al was used excl usively by the

This page: Weiser family stamp on a boat­shaped ingot. Opposite page, clockwise from top left: medical syringe; pewter dish; siege gun carriage wheel 01 .

THE FINISTERRE PROJECT

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fl I[ FIN IS I EHF11:: PF10JECT

upper class . Sail o rs normall y used wooden d ishes :tnd glasses For rheir meals. Pew-ter di \hes were documcnrcd during the excavation of Srtll lrt Mflrirt de frl Rosrt, anorhcr shipwreck of rh c G r:1n Armada of 1588, and dte ship rcnrari vcly identiFi ed as Nm-srt SI'II !Jolfl tlos Mrtrt ires, lost in I GOG ncar Lisbon. In borh of rhese cases, rhc pcwrer di shes Fc:nurcd marks on rhc rim with the name or initials of their owners; in rhe Srmlrt Mrtrirt de !fl Rosr1, rhe marks ind icated ownership by Captain Ma ru rc, :111 o fli cc r or rhc in Em try troops O il boa rd of rhe ship.

·1 he und crw: trcr survey co ndu cted ar Punta Res telos h:ts :tl lowcd archaeologists ro docunt cnr two cast iron c:u1n o n and a bro nze pt:tln:m. O ne of rhe cast iron c:utnons has been idcmif1cd as an L·: nglish gun dared to the lasr decades of rhc I Grh cenrury ( J>ers. Comm. Ren ~Ho Ridclla). O n the o ther h:tnd , rh c bro mc pedrero is simila r to a Sicilian gun found during the cxcavarion or l.rt }lllirtnrt, an lra li :111 vessel o f" the 1588 1\ rm:tcLt. Pedreros were shorr

20 INA QUARTERLY 40. I SPRING 20 13

ran ge weapons used against enemy crews before boarding. 'I hey shot srone ba ll s th at exploded against the ships' wooden stTu crurcs forming dead ly gra peshot rhat could wipe our everyo ne on the deck of enemy vessels.

A bronze linsrock was also recovered during the 2007 Fi eld se<tso n. lhis b ronze obj ect was placed at rhe ro p of a long pole and held a march used ro f-i re rhe cannon. lr was an unreli ab le and slow f-i ring sys tem that had a negative eA:ecr on rhe accuracy of rh e shor and was used unril th e end of rhe 18th cenrury when ir was replaced by the gunlock.

During the underwater survey conduct­ed at Punta Restelos, va ri ous planks of the ship' s hull were recorded . These plan ks arc 5 em wide and do not show any traces of nail s or oth er metal fasteners. How­ever, several treenail s, or their holes , were recorded. Each has a diameter of 3.5 em but no diw·ibution pattern was observed . O ne of the pl anks was badly damaged by marine microorga nisms and they all have edges tha t arc rounded by erosion.

A large wooden structure was also excavated during the archaeological survey. ·1 he srructure has a length of 4 .25 rn. , a maximum wiclrh of 1.25 m., and a th ickn ess of 28 cnt. Although its shape resembles rhe Fo rm of a rudder, its fun c­ti on has nor ye t been clearl y dcrerrnincd. It is com posed of four pi eces held rogerher by a meta l strap unrecognizable due ro rhe concreti on that covers it. In rhe same way, rhc visual analysis of the structure has shown two bol ts which faste n the wooden pieces across the whole structure. Finall y, seven treenail s with a di amercr of 3.5 em have been observed in rhe upper parr of rhe structure. We in rend ro conduct furrh cr analysis of rhe structure in order ro determine irs fun cri on and rhe parr of the shi p ro which ir belonged.

In concl usio n, the Punta Res telos ship­wreck represents a unique opporwni ry to adva nce scienrif1c knowledge of rhe ships of rh c Spanish armadas in rhe lare I Grh ccnwry. Th e cl ara produced by rhe

archaeological stud y of rhis shipwreck, in ­cluding rhosc idcm ifi ed as pa rr oF Padilla's 159G armada, can help us ga in a better understanding of shipbuilding techniques, ships' outfittin g, and life on boa rd rhc ves­sels used by the Spanish crow n during this peri od. Moreover, these data complement the resulrs of excava tio ns carri ed om on shipwrecks of rhe 1588 Armada. Thus, we hope it will be possible ro achieve a more obj ecti ve knowledge about rhese vessels , and to overcome some o f rhe nationali stic views and interpretations rhar are still prevalent in va ri ous ~11 -r icl es and books.

D uring the 201 3 season, the Finistcrre team intends to carry out further archaeo­logica l survey, arri fact analysis and archiva l research of the Punta Restelos shipwreck. ·1 he objective is to identify the name of the ship rhat sa nk at Punta Resrclos on rhar Farcfu l night in October, 159G .

FoLLow the Finisterre Project blog flt www.llfl uticfllarch. OJglb/ogsljinisterrel.

This page, left to right: Cast iron cannon ; bronze linstock. Opposite: Wooden planks.

Castro, F. V. D., 2005, The pep­per wreck a Portuguese India man at the mouth of the Tagus river, College Station.

Chirikure, S., Sinamai, A., Goago­ses, E. , Mubusisi, M. and Ndoro,

W. , 2010, Maritime Archaeology

and Trans-Oceanic Trade: A Case

Study of the Oranjemund Ship­

wreck Cargo, Namibia. Journal of Maritime Archaeology 5.1 : 37-55.

SUGGESTED READING

Gardiner, J. and Allen, M. J . a. M. A., 2005, Before the mast: Life and death aboard the Mary Rose,

Portsmouth.

Gracia Rivas, M. , 1988, La sani­dad en Ia jornada de lnglaterra

(1587-1588), Madrid.

Martin , C., 1975, Full fathom five: Wrecks of the Spanish Armada,

New York.

Martin , C. and Parker, G., 1988, The Spanish Armada, New York.

Martin , C. J. M., 1972, An Armada

wreck on Fair Isle. International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 1.1:59-71 .

Martin , C. J. M., 1988, A 16th

century siege train: the battery

ordnance of the 1588 Spanish

Armada. International Journal of

Nautical Archaeology 17. 1: 57-73.

THE FINISTERRE PROJECT

Smi th , R. C. and Burns, J . M.,

1998, The Emanuel Point ship: archaeological investigations,

1997- 1998, Pensacola.

Wingood , A. J., 1982, Sea

Venture. An interim report on an

early 17th century shipwreck lost

in 1609. International Journal

of Nautical Archaeology 11.4:

333-347.

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