Bugs onboard: Beetles and cockroaches from the Late Antiquity Ma‘agan Mikhael B shipwreck, Israel

Abstract

This paper reports the remains of 20 insect specimens recovered from the Late Antiquity shipwreck of Maʻagan Mikhael B. The shipwreck dates from between the mid-7th and the mid-8th centuries CE; it was found in a good state of preservation and provided information on various aspects of ship construction, seamanship, and seafaring in the Mediterranean at this time. The 20 insect specimens were embedded in a thick coating layer that was applied to the wooden components. They consist of four beetles (jewel beetle, cadelle beetle, bark beetle, and leaf beetle), 11 cockroach oothecae, a cockroach wing, and four fly puparia. Based on the identification of these specimens, we suggest that the crew’s diet included grain-based dishes. Finally, we emphasise that notwithstanding these species’ familiarity in European and West Asian settings, this is the earliest documented instance of their occurrence on a ship.