A Genoese ship sunk in the English privateer Francis Drake’s attack on Cádiz in 1587 reveals new clues about global trade, the preparation of the Invincible Armada and the violence of the confrontation, thanks to a Spanish multidisciplinary archaeological investigation.
The sunken ship, discovered in 2012 during the construction of the new container terminal in the port of Cádiz, was identified as one of the vessels sunk on April 29, 1587 in the attack led by English privateer Francis Drake.
AND o Genoese ship San Giorgio and Sant’Elmo Buonaventura, sunk during preparations for theat a time when the port of Cádiz was a strategic point on the routes connecting the Mediterranean, the Atlantic and the Americas.
Philip II’s Invincible Armada against England
Built in the Mediterranean, the ship belonged to Pietro Paolo Vassallo and was commanded by Clemente Vassallo. He had arrived in Cádiz on a state mission ordered by Philip II, I of Portugal, with the aim of transporting supplies and artillery for the Armada that was also being prepared in Lisbon.
A navy English, em growing military, it was an increasingly strong obstacle to the absolute domination of the seas by the Spanish; privateers, like Drake or Hawkins, pursued and plundered constantly the rich Spanish and Portuguese galleons, in the Atlantic or the Indian Ocean.
While the Genoese ship San Giorgio and Sant’Elmo Buonaventura was anchored off the city of Cádiz, was hit and sunk by the English fleet commanded by the privateer Drake.
Cannons, cochineal, olives and human remains
The ship was protected by a thick layer of mud, which allowed for exceptional conservation. underwaterincluding normally fragile organic materials.
Inside were found bronze cannons, barrels and various containers with organic products.
Among the findings, the cochineala valuable red dye originating in the Americas, preserved in fabric bags inside wooden barrels. The analysis identified the species Dactylopius coccus costa, an insect from which carminic acid is extracted.
In the 16th century, this dye arrived from New Spain (Mexico), specifically from the Oaxaca region, and became the third most valuable commodity in the Americas during the early modern period, after the gold and silver.
They were also found ceramic containers with olives in brine, fragments of lignum vitae wood, native to South America and the Caribbean, and boxes with ginger from the Americas.
These remains help reconstruct the commercial networks and maritime economy of 16th-century Cádiz.
Paleobiological studies have identified the remains of animals, including cows, pigs, goats and chickens, that constituted the crew’s food supply, data that allows you to better understand everyday life on board.
The wreck also provides information about the violence of the privateers’ attack. Human remains were found, including the skull of a woman between 25 and 35 years old, with a lesion on her forehead consistent with the impact of a projectile or a triangular object.
The set of finds makes this shipwreck a relevant source for the study of navigation, commerce and war in the early modern period, as well as the circulation of goods between Europe and the Americas, explained in
