Spanish archaeologist uncovers massive 2,400-year-old ship graveyard
While working on a three-year research initiative known as Project Herakles, researchers uncovered at least 150 archaeological sites, most of them shipwrecks.
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A group of Spanish archaeologists discovered a massive 2,400-year-old ship graveyard in the Bay of Gibraltar.
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While working on a three-year research initiative known as Project Herakles, researchers from the University of Cádiz and the University of Granada uncovered at least 150 archaeological sites, most of them shipwrecks.
Some of the discoveries date back to the fifth century B.C.
A group of researchers found at least 150 archaeological sites, most of them shipwrecks in the Bay of Gibraltar. (Felipe Cerezo Andreo / FOX Weather)
Many of the wrecks were found on the seafloor of the Bay of Gibraltar, also known as the Bay of Algeciras. The narrow waterway sits at the northern end of the Strait of Gibraltar, linking the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.
The bay has been known for its rough waters, which have claimed vessels ranging from ancient Roman ships to British and Spanish warships.
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"Before starting Project Herakles in 2019, only four underwater sites were known in the area. Today, we have information on more than 150 documented sites in just three years of work," Felipe Cerezo Andreo, a lecturer in archaeology at the University of Cádiz, told FOX News Digital.
Many of the wrecks were found on the seafloor of the Bay of Gibraltar, also known as the Bay of Algeciras. (Project Herakles / FOX Weather)
Andreo said the discoveries were the result of years of extensive research and exploration.
"They can now be studied, protected and shared," Andreo said.
Researchers identified numerous vessels spanning multiple eras, including medieval ships and World War II-era wrecks.
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"The bay was a very important space in antiquity," Andreo said. "We have evidence of settlements such as Carteia and Iulia Traducta that used these waters as their main port."
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When the researchers first began the project, they combed through historical research, interviewed local fishermen, divers and utilized advanced marine scanning technology to locate, map and find the wrecks.
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The archaeologists were then able to find the shipwrecks, most that are from the 18th to 20th centuries, but also Phoenician, Punic and Roman ships buried under the sand.
According to the team, one of the most exciting discoveries was the wreck of the Puente Mayorga IV, a small late-18th-century gunboat used to attack British ships.
View of the rock and Mediterranean Sea from the observation platform at the top of the Rock of Gibraltar, which is a British Overseas Territory. (Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images / Getty Images)
"The bay has functioned as a funnel of global history, and this is reflected in a seabed that preserves archaeological evidence," Andreo said.
To show the findings, researchers created virtual models and 360-degree videos of the sites that the public can access online and at local museums and town halls.
"We want society to feel that these shipwrecks are their ‘museums beneath the sea,’" Andreo said. "Ultimately, protecting these remains is about protecting the pages of the book that explain who we are today."