The research work in 2002

In 2002, the field research period at the wreck site was from the 23rd to the 30th of June. The research work was conducted by the Maritime Museum. The researchers visited the site also on the 10th of September when they were in Nauvo for the field research of the wreck of Vrouw Maria. Riikka Alvik, a researcher from the Maritime Museum, was the head of the fieldwork. Besides personnel from the museum, there were voluntary divers from the associations of Teredo Navalis and Rannikkosukeltajat at the site. Resources were limited but the results of the fieldwork were promising.

In reality, the work at the site was like a rescue excavation since the site had been touched without official authorization some time between 1998 and 2000. A few unbroken ceramics dishes had been taken. The main aim of the fieldwork was to document and raise objects that were now clearly seen on the sea bottom. We also wanted to confirm the age of the wrecking site, to define the size of the site area and to examine if the wreck parts found nearby were connected to the artefacts.

The very first dives showed that loose algae of the sea bottom covered the area of artefacts and the wreck parts. The whole area had to be cleared, and divers carefully run water over the area by the help of a pump and a fire hose. The clearing operation went well and for the first time the whole site area could be seen properly.

The general outlining of the area was done using a wireless underwater positioning system called Aqua Metre D100. The system is based on ultrasound and it represents the latest technology of underwater survey. Sharp rock walls disturbed the system a little so that some of the artefacts were measured using standard measuring tapes and points. The area was documented also by photographing, videotaping and drawing, and a remote operated camera was used as well.

All in all 32 artefacts or pieces of them were raised when they were first documented in their original places. Among the raised objects there were for example ceramics dishes and pieces of them, two preforms of stone grinders and a bronze pot. The conservator of the Maritime Museum planned the raising operation together with the field team. Each of the artefacts was cautiously placed in a lifting cage with padding and a cover. The artefacts were brought in the conservatory laboratory of the Maritime Museum to be analysed and conserved. The sediment inside the artefacts was stored up as for example plant seeds can possibly be sifted from it later.

The research work provided us with more precise information on the size of the site area. The wooden wreck parts a bit farther away from the items of the cargo proved to be connected to the site because a bronze pot that had got entangled in the wooden parts of the wreck was dated as old as the other artefacts on the area. Even more bronze pieces of pots were found among the items of the cargo. On the whole, the site consisted of more artefacts than presumed. Some of the artefacts are covered by sediment.

When our researchers visited the site for one day in September they took three wooden samples of the structural parts of the wreck. One of the samples was taken from what is believed to be side planking and two samples were taken from the possible step of the mast. The wooden parts are fairly slender, which indicates that the ship was apparently a small one, presumably not more than 15 metres long.

Because the site had been touched without official authorization and because all of the visible artefacts could not be documented and raised during the fieldwork session of 2002, field research at the site goes on.