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Shipwrecks are the material remains of
the boats and ships. Its study helps to
understand the technical achievements and
interactions of people in the past. Shipwreck
archaeology is the larger field of the nautical
archaeology as a whole. Shipwrecks contain
clues of maritime heritage.
Exploration of shipwreck at Sunchi reef,
near Amee shoal, around 2 km away from Marmagao
port, has revealed remains of a shipwreck
in 3 to 6 m water depth. The important findings
include a barrel of a hand gun, Chinese
ceramics, sherds of Martaban pottery (stone
ware), elephant tusks and Hippopotamus teeth,
a number of dressed granite blocks, four
guns - each one 2 m long, a cast iron cannon
ball, lead pieces, copper vessel and strip,
stone and clay bricks, pieces of glass bottles
and door knocker. Granite blocks and guns
are overgrown with barnacles and other sea
organisms. These discoveries suggest that
the ship might have arrived from Portugal
via Africa to Goa and grounded due to lack
of knowledge of the topography of the area.
TL dating of the pottery suggests that the
wreck belonged to early 17th century AD
of Portuguese period. The shipwreck findings
show the evidence of the Indo-Portuguese
trade and commerce.
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Sunchi Reef site map
Photos from Sunchi Reef wreck site (left to wright - below):
Row 1: Brass barrel of a handgun, Martaban Pottery bases, Martaban Pottery rims
Row 2: Broken bases (round & square) glass bottles, Stone bricks (?), Chinese ceramic base and lid
Row 3: Lead pipe and pieces, Elephant tusk, Hippopotamus teeth
Row 4: Iron gun, granite blocks
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St George's Reef
The wreck sites of Sunchi Reef
and St. George's Reef and the artefacts
retrieved from these places provide clinching
proof that Goa waters possess rich potential
for study of shipwreck archaeology.
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Another shipwreck was explored at 15 m
water depth in St George's Reef, on the
eastern side of Grande Island. The findings
include various types of artefacts such
as inscribed chimney bricks, roof, ridge
and floor tiles, the latter being the most
numerous; a Corinthian capital for a column;
and a drum. The bricks are made of white
clay, moulded and inscribed, 'Basel Mission
Tile Works 1865' on the obverse; the reverse
is plain. Some of the floor tiles are stamped
like the bricks but on the reverse, and
have four deep grooves; the obverse is plain.
The Corinthian type of capital is hollow
inside and one end is closed. The timber
of the ship is also noticed in between the
rocks and it could be a part of the ship's
keel. The anatomical analysis of timber
shows that it belongs to 'Lagerstroemia
Lancealata' species for which the trade
name is benteak. The C14 dating of the timber
suggests that the St George's Reef wreck
is about 115 years old and therefore occurred
in the latter part of the 19th century.
Basel Mission Company had the tile factories
in the Mangalore region of Karnataka and
exported the products to East Africa, Aden,
Basara, Australia and Southeast Asian countries
in bygone period.
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