Ellen Lloyd – AncientPages.com – Our oceans hold many clues that could shed light on our ancient past. Beneath the waters are incredible prehistoric objects and ruins of long-gone civilizations. Underwater archaeologists have found submerged shipwrecks that show how ancient people crossed the sea, traded, explored, and engaged in wars. However, sometimes we discover remarkable ancient underwater treasures that raise more questions than answers.

This is the case with the amazing underwater treasure of Rochelongue, which tells an astonishing 2,500-year-old story that scientists are still trying to understand.

A bracelet that was part of the underwater treasure of Rochelongue. © Denis Gliksman / Inrap.

The adventure started in 1964 when André Bouscaras, a shipwreck enthusiast, discovered the underwater site of Rochelongue, located west of Cap d’Agde in southwestern France.

Bouscaras was an experienced diver who had previously located many underwater sites (especially shipwrecks) in the waters of West Languedoc, but the recent submerged find was extraordinary.

Underwater archaeologists and other experts investigated the site several times between 1964-1968 and again in 1970. The results of the scientific studies resulted in that scientists could confirm “archaeological material at the site was scattered over an area measuring roughly 25×14 m at a depth of 6–8 m.” ¹

Soon it became clear there was something strange about the underwater objects. Were they part of a sunken ship’s cargo or ritual deposits?

Scientists tried to solve the mystery of the Rochelongue site by examining the submerged artifacts.

The Rochelongue treasure was dated to the Iron Age, c. 600 B.C, and included 800 kg of copper ingots and about 1,700 bronze artifacts. Among them were bracelets, large brooches, belt clasps, weapons, in particular axes of various types but also spears.

Mystery Of The Rochelongue Site And Its Precious Artifacts

Where did the Rochelongue treasures come from? Why were they underwater?

Historians and archaeologists wanted to learn as much as possible about the curious, submerged ancient artifacts.

Though there are no definite answers, scientists can offer hypotheses attempting to explain the presence of these valuable ancient artifacts in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.

According to researchers, “particular objects in the ᴀssemblage have been identified as Etruscan, Greek, Phoenician or local and dated anywhere from the 9th to the 6th century B.C. This has led to varying cultural ascriptions for the site.” ¹

In-situ metal artefacts at the Rochelongue site. PH๏τo: A. Bouscaras, courtesy of the Bouscaras collection, Musee du l’Ephebe au Cap d’Agde Archives

Some experts say this is an “Etruscan shipwreck and ᴀssociate it with other presumed Etruscan wrecks found along the French Mediterranean coast, such as at Antibes, Esteou dou Miet, Cᴀssidaigne, and Grand Ribaud, even though some of these sites are up to a century later in date. These shipwrecks yielded a significant number of Etruscan artifacts or complete Etruscan cargoes, including wine or other products transported in Etruscan amphorae, and are located in waters where Etruscan sea-traders would have been likely to sail during the 6th century B.C.

But there is no such ceramics or other Etruscan material culture in the Rochelongue ᴀssemblage which makes this interpretation unlikely.” ¹

Another option is that the “Rochelongue site is of a Phoenician origin since the copper ingots in the ᴀssemblage are similar to those found at the Mazarrón 2 and Bajo de la Campana shipwrecks. Both sites are believed to be Phoenician, found within Phoenician colonial contexts off the south-eastern coast of Spain, and are dated to the late 7th century B.C.

Archaeologists retrieved several ancient arrows from the site.  © Denis Gliksman / Inrap

Such an argument rests on rather tenuous evidence, though, and primarily reflects the historically attested and generally accepted notion that the early metals trade in the western Mediterranean – in particular the Iberian Peninsula – was dominated by Phoenician traders.” ¹

Dominique Garcia, archaeologist, historian, President of INRAP, and Professor at the University of Aix-Marseille, together with Jean Guilaine, an archaeologist specializing in prehistory and Professor emeritus at the Collège de France, shared their views about the Rochelongue treasure in an interview with Radio France.

One possibility is that the Rochelongue site is a marine sanctuary, and the accumulation of objects would have been produced over time.

Another bracelet found at the Rochelongue underwater site. © Denis Gliksman / Inrap. 

According to Radio France, the study of this bronze ᴀssembly reveals many surprises since the ingots come from the mines of Andalusia, and the large fibulae were produced in Catalonia. Many pieces of furniture also come from the depths of continental Gaul, from the Jura to the Atlantic, suggesting that the local Gallic elites drained all these objects via peddlers.

A plausible explanation is that this is cargo belonging to a ship leaving for Italian waters before being destroyed during a storm.

“These local populations of Bas Languedoc, in particular the most important characters, have enough power to drain through all of Gaul enormous mᴀsses of bronze which will then end up in foundries or the sanctuaries of the Mediterranean.

You see, in this deposit, something which is very heterogeneous. On the one hand, ingots of southern Iberian origin, objects scattered on the Spanish coast of Valencia and practically up to the Pyrenees and beyond, and finally, strictly Gallic objects. It is a complex composition making the Rochelongue deposit exciting,” Guilaine said.

Was a Phoenician ship caught up in a storm? Credit: Adobe Stock – Kristian

Based on the fact the excavation revealed a space that is approximately 25 meters long and 14 meters wide, Garcia favors the shipwreck hypothesis.

The magnificent 2,500-year-old submerged Rochelongue treasure keeps fascinating scientists and the public alike. The site holds an ancient secret we have partly solved, and its existence shows the importance of underwater archaeology.

Studies on the Rochelongue site have traditionally focused on the chronologies and cultural attributes of the remains as well as the question of what type of site it represents – a shipwreck or ritual deposit.

As yet, there is no general consensus on the answers.” ¹

Written by Ellen Lloyd – AncientPages.com

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