Abstract
Antique shipwrecks of the western Mediterranean Sea constitute an exceptional source of data concerning naval and maritime Greco-Roman histories. Unfortunately, archaeological material gives no information about the location of Antique shipyards. The presented work tests the possibility of applying pollen analysis to resins found on shipwrecks in order to delimit their geographical origin. Pollen spectra obtained from resins preserved between wood pieces and in plant ligatures are compared to wood assemblages of two shipwrecks from the Golfe du Lion (southern France). Pollen spectra are comparable within- and between-shipwrecks, and correspond to the pollen content of resins from Antique amphorae found on the Roussillon coast, and from wood assemblages. Despite the few studied samples, these results point to the reliability of pollen data from wreck resins and provide some biogeographical indications: (1) the common set of taxa in the resins essentially reflects the arboreal vegetation surrounding the shipyards; and (2) the occurrence of Platanus both in pollen and wood records from the Baie-de-l'Amitié shipwreck (Cap d'Agde) allows location of the origin of this boat east of southern Italy.
Published Version
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