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Arade 1 Shipwreck Research Project

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WHAT: CARVEL PLANKED SHIPWRECK WHERE: ARADE RIVER, PORTUGAL | EXCAVATION: 2001 DATE OF WRECK: ca. A.D. 1583 | DOCUMENTS & DRAWINGS | SITE REPORT

Found during dredging operations in 1970, the Arade 1 shipwreck was photographed and inspected by amateur archaeologists during the subsequent summers. Since there were very few artifacts, this wreck was quickly forgotten and left abandoned. During the decade that followed the Arade 1 hull slowly decayed, broke flat, and was covered by sediments. In the summer of 2001 Centro Nacional de Arqueologia Náutica e Subaquática (CNANS), the Portuguese agency for Nautical Archaeology, invited a team from Texas A&M University to participate in a project of survey and excavation of several sites on the mouth of the Arade River, near the city of Portimão, in Portugal.

The Arade 1 shipwreck was located by a team from CNANS during the summer of 2001, and an agreement was secured with the local municipality and archaeological museum for a long-term project of survey, excavation, study and preservation of the Arade River cultural heritage. This project was designated ProArade. In 2002 INA excavated and recorded part of the ship’s hull, dated to c. 1580. Later, the work was continued under the direction of Dr. Eric Rieth from Sorbonne 1 University, France.

Selected Bibliography

Abecassis, D.,  Estudo geral economico e tecnico dos portos do Algarve.  Porto: Litografia Nacional, 1926.

Alves, F, Blot, J-Y, Kermovant, A, Lorin, A., Matias, J.M.,” Sistemas de deteccao geofisica em arqueonautica utilizados em Portugal: os casos do Arade 1, Redoutable e Alfeizerao,” inGeociencias, 5.1: 135 (abstract).

Alves, F.J.S., Soares, A.M.M., Cabral, J.M.P., Gomes, M.V., and Ribeiro, M.I.M. (1994) –  ­­­Datações de radiocarbono relacionadas com o património arqueonáutico em Portugal. In  Actas do 1º Congresso de Arqueologia Peninsular (Porto, 1993), “Trabalhos de Antropologia e Etnologia”, 34.3-4: 405- 411. Porto.

Alves, Francisco, “Ponta do Altar B  – Arqueologia de um naufrágio no Algarve nos alvores do século XVII.”  Arqueólogo Português, 4.8/10: 357-424. Lisboa: MNA, 1990-1992.

Alves, F., Machado, C., Castro, F., “Resultados preliminares da campanha de trabalhos arqueológicos Arade 2001 realizada no âmbito do projecto ProArade”, in Actas do Encontro de Arqueologia do Algarve, Silves 27 a 29 de Setembro 2001 (in press).

Alves, Francisco, “Acerca dos destrocos de dois navios descobertos durante as dragagens de 1970 na foz do Rio Arade (Ferragudo, Lagoa)”, in As rotas oceanicas, Secs. XV-XVII, Lisboa: Ed. Colibri, 1999: 29-92.

Carrapiço, F.J., Palhinha, J.A., Brazio, J.M.,  As muralhas de Portimão, subsideos para o estudo da historia local.  Portimão: Ed. Câmara Municipal de Portimao, 1974.

Castro, Filipe, The Arade 1 Ship – 2002 Field Season – Vol. 1 – The Site – ShipLab Report 3. On file in IPA/CNANS’ library, 2002, and in Nautical Archaeological Program Library, Texas A&M University, 2002.

Castro, Filipe, The Arade 1 Ship – 2002 Field Season – Vol. 2 – The Hull – ShipLab Report 5. On file in IPA/CNANS’ library, 2002, and in Nautical Archaeological Program Library, Texas A&M University, 2003.

Castro, Filipe, The Arade 1 Ship – 2002 Field Season – Vol. 3 – The Artifacts – ShipLab Report 6. On file in IPA/CNANS’ library, 2002, and in Nautical Archaeological Program Library, Texas A&M University, 2002.

Castro, Filipe, “Archaeology and Dredges: the Arade River Archaeological Complex”,International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, (2005) 34.1:72-83.

Castro, Filipe, “The Arade 1 shipwreck. A small ship at the mouth of the Arade River, Portugal,” in Blue, L., Hocker, F., and Englert, A., eds., Connected by the Sea. Proceedings of the 10th Symposium on Boat and Ship Archaeology, Roskilde 2003 (ISBSA 10), Oxford: Oxbow Books, 2006 :300-305.

Coelho, A.B., Portugal na Espanha arabe. Lisboa: Ed. Caminho, 1989.

Farrajota, Eng. José, Memoria descritiva das observacoes subaquaticas feitas em Portimao e da cronologia dos acontecimentos que levaram as mesmas. Lisboa: CPAS, 1970.

Gomes, N.A., and Weinholtz, M.B., “Estudo da evolução do estuário do Arade e das praias adjacentes”, Portos e Obras Marítimas, Lisbon, 1971.  Document from Direcção de Serviços Marítimos in the library of the Museu Municipal de Portimão.

Loureiro, A.,  Os portos marítimos de Portugal e Ilhas Adjacentes.  Lisboa: Imprensa Nacional, 1909.  Vol. 4: 181-183 Alvor;  184-254 Portimão; 359-360 Indice.

Loureiro, V. e Alves, J.G., O Navio Arade 1. Relatório da Campanha Arqueológica de 2004. Trabalhos do CNANS 28, Lisboa: IPA, 2005.

Loureiro, V. e Alves, J.G., O Navio Arade 1. Relatório da Campanha Arqueológica de 2005. Trabalhos do CNANS 32, Lisboa: IPA, 2006.

Loureiro, V., L’Épave Arade 1 (Algarve/Portugal). Archéographie et archéologie d’un navire du début de l’époque moderne. Mémoire de D.E.A. en Archéologie des Périodes Historiques. Université de Paris I – Sorbonne, 2004.

Machado, C. Alberto, Relatorio do projecto “Salvaguarda do património arqueológico subaquático do rio Arade, Outubro 1998 a Outubro 2000, Portimao: GEO, 2000.

Marques, A.H. de O., Portugal, das invasões romanas à “reconquista”. Lisboa: Ed. Presença: 1993.

Matos, M.C. de, A cidade de Silves num itinerario naval do seculo XII por um cruzado anonimo, Lisboa: Ed. Tavola Redonda, 1999.

Rieth, E., Rodrigues, P., e Alves, F., Relatório da campanha de 2003 de desmontagem e recuperação da parte exposta do navio Arade 1. Trabalhos do CNANS 19, Lisboa: IPA, 2004.

Weinholtz, M.B.,  Anteporto de Portimão e Praia da Rocha, Evolucao.  Lisboa:  Direccao Geral de Portos, 1970-1980.

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Fig. 12The system of recording used in 2001photoCNANS

ABOVE: The system of recording used in 2001 (Photo:CNANS).