The mortar wreck in Mellieha bay : plans and soundings

Abstract

The value of wreck sites is not yet fully appreciated, largely because of the lack of quick and consistent publication. Wrecks, being 'closed groups', are important both for dating and for deducing the provenance of antiquities. When their controlled excavation becomes the rule, they should be such a reliable source of information, that archaeologists debating attributions may one day ask: 'is such and such a view confirmed by findings from wreck excavation ?' Considering Captain O. F. Gollcher's personal interest in Marine Archaeology, it is appropriate that the Foundation should choose to begin with a wreck-report that can be followed up, as and when research or the results of further excavation on the site should permit. The Mellieha wreck is not one of those photogenic sites made familiar by the commercial press. The hull was not found this year and, in such shallow water, it may have been entirely destroyed. That these first soundings of the cargo are archaeologically rewarding is largely due to the generous co-operation of experts and laboratories.