On April 1st, 2008, Namdeb, the Namibian mining company that represents a diamond mining partnership between the Namibian government and the DeBeers Diamond Company, discovered something other than diamonds. While searching the seabed off of Namibia’s desert coastal region, they stumbled upon some copper ingots. Momentarily halting their search for diamonds in the diamond-rich Namibian seabed area, the mining operation discovered cannons and ivory tusks along with a large quantity of gold and silver coins.
The company’s geologists immediately contacted the archaeologist Dieter Noli, who has been working with DeBeers to investigate the areas that Namdeb has been digging in search of diamonds. Once Noli had investigated the site, he was able to ascertain that the finds were the result of a long-ago deteriorated shipwreck. He has estimated that the wreck occurred at some point during the late 15th or early 16th century, around the same time period that investigation into the new world was beginning.
Noli primarily studies the desert regions of Namibia, but had prepared himself for a while for coastal archaeology. The coastal region of the Namibia region of Africa is known for rough waters as well as fogs and other sea dangers. For this reason, Noli felt that it would be just a matter of time before a wreck of the nature that has been discovered would be found. He had even gone as far as learning to dive in preparation for what he saw to be an eventual research opportunity.
The coins that were found were cast in Spain and Portugal. The dating of the coins puts them at the time period that Spain and Portuguese shipping ruled the seas. While the New World was just entering the period of discovery and exploration at the time the ship is dated to, the African continent was also beginning to receive greater exploration for land and resources. In short, it would not have been unusual for a ship of that time period to be carrying such a large quantity of treasure off the coast of southern Africa.
Namdeb made the press announcement of the shipwreck discovery on Wednesday, April 30th. At this time, Noli stated that he should be able to discover the identity of the craft and its captain through visits to Spain and Portugal. The quantity of high-value goods – such as ivory, gold and silver coins – while not unusual for a trading vessel of either the Spanish or Portuguese crowns, would have careful records stating its port-of-call, captain, mission, and list of goods at the time of it leaving port.
Noli has also stated that it is possible that the ship may have been a pirate ship. This would explain the large quantity of coins found along with the ivory. A legal trading vessel would most likely have one or the other, as the coins would most likely have been utilized to pay for the ivory. He has also theorized that it is possible that the captain was particularly fortunate during his trading for the ivory, and so was able to retain the large quantity of coins that have been found with the ivory stores.
The dating of the shipwreck came from a number of artifacts found in the wreckage. The only navigational devices found were astrolabes, a typical navigational tool used on ships from the 15th to the 17th century. The astrolabes were used only to identify where a ship was in regards to its northern or southern location, not its eastern or western location. The cannons that were found have been identified as having been made in Spain during the late 15th or 16th century. Coins dated as 15th century and pewter tableware added to the artifacts lending to the dating of the wreckage.
There is some early speculation as to the identification of the captain of the vessel. Bartolomeu Dias was a Portuguese explorer of the late 15th century, and disappeared in 1500. He had been the first European to have successfully navigated the Cape of Good Hope around the southern tip of Africa on his way to discover an alternative trade route to Asia as opposed to the routes that at that time went through the Middle East. It was in 1488 that he discovered the Cape of Good Hope, but it was 12 years later, during further expeditions in the same area that his ship disappeared in a storm off of the Cape of Good Hope.
Whether or not the final resting place of Bartolomeu Dias’ final voyage over 500 years ago has been discovered by a modern diamond mining company will only be known through further research. However, even if it is not Dias’ ship, Namdeb may have found an African-waters shipwreck that is older than any other in the Sub-Saharan region. This shipwreck is proving to be quite a different type of diamond-in-the-rough than Namdeb is used to dealing with.
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March 12th, 2011 at 4:01 pm
Thanks for the article