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Study of the bioerosion of Phoenician elephant tusks from the shipwreck of Bajo de la Campana: lots of hypotheses, few certainties

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Abstract

The shipwreck of Bajo de la Campana (VII–VI century B.C.) was a Phoenician merchant ship accidentally discovered in the 1950s off the coasts of the Murcia region (Spain). Sixty-four elephant tusks were part of the cargo. Some of them were recovered by archaeologists between 2007 and 2011 and are now stored in the restoration laboratory of the National Museum of Underwater Archaeology (ARQVA) of Cartagena. This study investigated the bioerosion traces present on 12 selected tusks in order to hypothesize which marine or terrestrial macroborers could have attacked this substrate. No work has previously looked at the biological degradation of this material. Taking into account the mineral composition of ivory, the hypothesized bioeroders were selected from those reported in the literature as bioeroders of rocks or other hard substrates (bones, corals, shells, etc.). The hypothesized biodeteriogens belongs to several groups of marine invertebrates (echinoids, barnacles, molluscs, sponges, polychaetes, and bryozoans) and terrestrial insects. Unfortunately, the absence of parts of the bioeroders’ body or of skeletal elements inside the studied traces did not allow definitive identification, so the attributions remain hypotheses. However, this study could be considered a starting point for an interesting debate and for future investigations on the bioerosion of this precious material.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Iván Negueruela Martínez, Director of the National Museum of Underwater Archaeology (ARQVA), who gave us the opportunity to study these wonderful remains and who encouraged us during our stay in Cartagena. We are grateful to Juan Pinedo and Mark Polzer for giving us the authorization to publish the pictures related to the archeological site. We would also like to thank Christine Schoenberg for her interesting comments concerning the possible bioerosion by sponges, and Alfred Uchman for his important suggestion on the bioerosive role of insects.

Funding

This research did not receive any specific Grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Innovation of Biological Systems, Food and Forestry (DIBAF), Tuscia University, S. Camillo de Lellis snc, 01100, Viterbo, Italy

    Federica Antonelli

  2. Biology Laboratory, ISCR, Istituto Superiore per la Conservazione e il Restauro, Via di San Michele, 23, 00153, Rome, Italy

    Sandra Ricci

  3. Underwater Archaeological Operations Unit, ISCR, Istituto Superiore per la Conservazione ed il Restauro, Via di San Michele, 23, 00153, Rome, Italy

    Barbara Davidde Petriaggi

  4. Conservation-Restoration area, ARQVA, Museo Nacional de Arqueología Subacuática, Paseo del Muelle Alfonso XII, 22, 30202, Cartagena, Spain

    Milagros Buendía Ortuño

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  1. Federica Antonelli
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  2. Sandra Ricci
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  3. Barbara Davidde Petriaggi
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  4. Milagros Buendía Ortuño
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Correspondence to Federica Antonelli.

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This article is part of a Topical Collection in Facies on Bioerosion: An interdisciplinary approach, guest edited by Ricci et al.

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Antonelli, F., Ricci, S., Davidde Petriaggi, B. et al. Study of the bioerosion of Phoenician elephant tusks from the shipwreck of Bajo de la Campana: lots of hypotheses, few certainties. Facies 65, 10 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10347-019-0553-8

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