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A Portuguese East Indiaman from the 1502–1503 Fleet of Vasco da Gama off Al Hallaniyah Island, Oman: an interim report

2016; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 45; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/1095-9270.12175

1095-9270

David L. Mearns, David Parham, Bruno Fröhlich,

Archaeological Research and Protection

Two Portuguese naus from Vasco da Gama's second voyage to India, left behind to disrupt maritime trade between India and the Red Sea, were wrecked in May 1503 off the north-eastern coast of Al Hallaniyah Island, Oman. The ships, Esmeralda and São Pedro, had been commanded by da Gama's maternal uncles, Vicente and Brás Sodré, respectively. A detailed study and scientific analysis of an artefact assemblage recovered during archaeological excavations conducted in Al Hallaniyah in 2013 and 2014 confirms the location of an early 16th-century Portuguese wreck-site, initially discovered in 1998. Esmeralda is proposed as the probable source of the remaining, un-salved wreckage. في مايو 1503م تحطمت سفينتان من سفن الناوس البرتغالية من أسطول فاسكو دي جاما من رحلته الثانية للهند على الساحل الشمالي الشرقي لجزيرة الحلانيات في سلطنة عمان ،واللتان تركتا لتعطيل التجارة البحرية في المنطقة بين الهند والبحر الأحمر. السفينتان إزمارالدا و ساو بيدرو كانتا تحت قيادة كلاً من فيسنتي و براس صودري على التوالي أخوال فاسكو دي جاما. تأتي هذه الدراسة المفصلة والتحاليل العلمية للقطع الأثرية التي تم إكتشافها من خلال الحفريات الأثرية التي أجريت في جزيرة الحلانيات بين عامي 2013 و 2014 م لتؤكد أن الموقع يعتبر من أوائل مواقع حطام السفن البرتغالية للفترة من أوائل القرن السادس عشر، والذي قد تم إكتشافه بدايةً عام 1998م. تفضي الدراسة إلى أن بقايا الحطام المكتشفة قد تعود في المقام الأول إلى السفينة إزمارالدا. Duas naus portuguesas pertencentes à armada que Vasco da Gama liderou na sua segunda viagem à India ficaram no Índico para perturbar o comércio entre a India e o Mar Vermelho, naufragando em Maio de 1503 junto à costa nordeste da ilha Al Hallaniyah, no Omã. Aqueles navios, Esmeralda e São Pedro, eram liderados pelos tios maternos de Vasco da Gama, Vicente e Brás Sodré, respetivamente. O sítio foi descoberto em 1998 e escavado em 2013 e 2014. O estudo detalhado e análises científicas da coleção de artefactos recuperada durante a escavação arqueológica confirmam a localização do naufrágio de uma embarcação portuguesa do século XVI. Propõem-se que os vestígios encontrados pertençam à carga não salvada da Esmeralda. Dos naos Portuguesas, que permanecieron en la India tras el segundo viaje de Vasco de Gama para interrumpir el comercio marítimo entre ésta y el Mar Rojo, naufragaron en 1503 en la costa noreste de la Isla de Al Hallaniyah, Oman. Las naves, Esmeralda y São Pedro, habían sido comandadas por los tíos maternos de de Gama, Vicente y Brás Sodré respectivamente. El estudio detallado y el análisis científico de una colección de artefactos recuperados durante las excavaciones arqueológicas llevadas a cabo en Al Hallaniyah en 2013 y 2014, confirman la localización del pecio de una nave Portuguesa del siglo XVI temprano, inicialmente descubierto en 1998. Se propone que los restos no sometidos a salvamento pertenecieron a la Esmeralda. (Traducción: Ricardo Borrero L, with thanks to the Honor Frost Foundation) The Carreira da India, made annually by Portuguese ships since Vasco da Gama's discovery of the sea route to India in 1498, was a dangerous and often deadly journey for the ships and men that sailed it. In terms of ships lost, one study puts the number of total casualties at 219 for the period between 1498 and 1650 (Guinote et al., 1998: 105). Despite the large number of losses, very few India-route shipwrecks have been found and, according to Castro, almost all had been heavily looted before archaeologists had the opportunity to study their remains (Castro, 2005: 26). Of the wrecks that have been found and identified, none can be conclusively dated earlier than 1552—the São João—leaving archaeologists with roughly a 50-year gap in knowledge of many aspects of how the Portuguese conducted maritime trade and warfare in the Indian Ocean (Castro, 2005: 27). The Portuguese shipwreck discovered in Oranjemund, Namibia believed to be the Bom Jesus sunk in 1533, has yet to be conclusively identified or dated (Chirikure et al., 2010: 37). This gap coincides with an important and culturally significant period in the long history of Portuguese overseas expansion. In an effort to partially fill this gap, research was begun into the documentary evidence for two early 16th-century ship losses (1503) suffered by the Portuguese in the Indian Ocean with the aim of locating their wreck-sites. The two ships, the naus Esmeralda and São Pedro, were the leading vessels of a five-ship squadron of three naus and two caravels that formed an important part of Vasco da Gama's second voyage and the fourth Portuguese fleet to explore the Indian Ocean. The ships were commanded by the brothers Vicente and Brás Sodré, respectively, who were the maternal uncles of da Gama. This research concluded that the most probable location for the wrecks was the northern coast of Al Hallaniyah: the largest of the Khuriya Muriya Islands situated approximately 45 km off the southern coast of Oman, and it was the basis for a search expedition which initially located the wreck site in 1998. The avoidable and costly loss of these ships and their valuable cargoes, which also resulted in the death of the Sodré brothers, is a well-documented story that has been recounted numerous times over the centuries. The story's enduring interest stems in part from the direct familial connection with da Gama, but equally from the important military role played by Vicente Sodré during this voyage in accordance with separate instructions (regimento) given to him by the Portuguese King Dom Manuel I (1495–1521). Our research thereby benefited from a rich and extensive narrative of da Gama's 1502–1503 voyage to India, which also included the violent warfare and piracy conducted by the independent Sodré squadron and the tragic demise of the Esmeralda and São Pedro in a violent storm. Of the many accounts that exist, the most important for pinpointing the wreck location was the sole eyewitness account written by Pêro d'Ataíde, one of the other captains in the Sodré squadron (1504), and four of the Portuguese chronicles published later in the mid 16th century (Corrêa, c.1550s; Barros, 1552; Castanheda, 1551–1560; and Góis, 1567). In 1502, four years after his discovery of the sea route to India earned him the titles Dom and Admiral of the Indies in addition to other royal grants, Vasco da Gama was once again appointed Captain-Major by Dom Manuel I for a voyage to India. Following the disastrous outcome of Pedro Cabral's earlier (1500–1501) command of 13 ships, of which only six made it to the Malabar coast, da Gama was apparently a late replacement for Cabral of this 4th Portuguese voyage, which was central to the prestige and military ambitions of Dom Manuel. The Portuguese king's investment in the Indian Ocean had yet to turn a profit, nor had it resulted in finding large numbers of friendly Christians in India who could be allies against the Mamluks of Egypt who controlled the spice trade through the Red Sea. In fact, Cabral's relations with the Zamorin of Calicut were decidedly unfriendly. Continuing da Gama's policy of hostile trade, Cabral's fleet first seized a Muslim ship, which in turn precipitated a retaliatory attack by the enraged Muslim merchants on the newly established Portuguese feitoria in Calicut. Fifty-four Portuguese, including the feitor Aires Correia, were killed in the ensuing battle. Cabral's reply to the heavy loss of his men and goods was to capture still more Muslim ships and then to bombard Calicut with his heavy guns, killing as many as 500 (Subrahmanyam, 1997: 181). In replacing Cabral, Dom Manuel opted for a fleet that was full of military intent and family members of da Gama. Of the 20 ships, the largest Carreira da India fleet to date, five were commanded by present, or soon to be relations of da Gama, including: the Sodré brothers, a cousin Estêvão da Gama, a brother-in-law Alvaro de Ataíde, and a future brother-in-law Lopo Mendes de Vasconcelos (Livro das Armadas da Índia, c.1497–1640). The main figure, however, other than da Gama himself, was Vicente Sodré, who was to assume the role of Captain-Major if anything happened to his nephew. Sodré, who was both a knight of the Order of Christ and of the royal household, was given a separate regimento by Dom Manuel to use his partially independent squadron of five ships to 'make war against the ships of Meca' along the coast of Malabar and the entrance to the Red Sea (Barros, 1552: 87; Subrahmanyam, 1997: 190). In leaving Sodré's smaller squadron behind, Dom Manuel was looking to forcibly control and dominate the spice trade by the naval power of his technically superior ships armed with heavy guns. After da Gama returned to Lisbon in early 1503 with the main part of the fleet, Sodré was instructed to patrol the waters off the south-west Indian coast. From this post he could protect the newly established Portuguese factories and their allies in Cochin and Cannanore from the inevitable Zamorin attacks, and still be able to capture Arab ships trading between the Red Sea and Kerala to fulfil the royal regimento. Sodré, however, ignored these instructions and instead sailed to the Gulf of Aden where his squadron captured and looted a number of Arab ships of their valuable cargoes (Subrahmanyam, 1997: 229). In conducting this high-seas piracy, Sodré was abetted by his brother Brás in the São Pedro, who led brutal attacks that spared no lives as every ship was burnt after being plundered. According to Pêro d'Ataíde (1504), who was captain of the third nau, the Sodré brothers kept the lion's share of the stolen cargoes (pepper, sugar, clothing, rice, and cloves), leading to dissension among the other commanders and crews. In April of 1503, Sodré took his squadron to the Khuriya Muriya Islands off the south-eastern coast of Oman to shelter from the south-west monsoon and to repair the hull of one of the caravelas. They remained on the largest and only inhabited island (now known as Al Hallaniyah) for many weeks and enjoyed friendly relations with the indigenous Arab population, including bartering for food and provisions. In May the local fishermen warned the Portuguese of an impending dangerous wind from the north that would place their anchored ships at risk unless they moved to the leeward side of the island. Confidant that their iron anchors were strong enough to hold their naus in place, the Sodré brothers, along with Pêro de Ataíde, kept their ships in the northern anchorage, while the smaller caravels moved to a safe location on the other side of the island. When the winds came, as the Arab fisherman had accurately predicted, they were sudden and furious and were accompanied by a powerful swell that tore the Sodré brothers' ships from their moorings and drove them hard against the rocky shoreline smashing their wooden hulls and breaking their masts. An illustration in Livro das Armadas (c.1568) dramatically captures the demise of the two naus (Fig. 1). While most men on the São Pedro survived by scrambling across the fallen mast and rigging on to land, it was reported that everyone from the Esmeralda, including the squadron commander Vicente Sodré, perished in the deeper waters of the bay. Although Brás initially survived the wrecking of his ship, he later died of unknown causes; but not before he had two Moorish pilots killed, including the best pilot in all of India left to him by his nephew da Gama, in misplaced revenge for the death of his brother (Ataíde, 1504). After burying their dead on the island, the surviving Portuguese spent six days salvaging as much as they could from the wrecks before setting fire to the hulls (Ataíde, 1504). Under the new command of Pêro de Ataíde, the three remaining ships sailed back to India where they met Francisco D'Albuquerque and, according to Ataíde, handed over 17 pieces of artillery they had salvaged from the wrecks. Ataíde later succumbed to illness and died in early 1504 after his ship wrecked near Mozambique during his return journey to Lisbon. Shortly before he died, however, Ataíde wrote a five-page personal letter to Dom Manuel relating the events described above. This letter, the original of which is held in the Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo in Lisbon, represents the most complete first-hand account of what transpired with the Sodré patrol, and it is against this account that the Portuguese chronicles of Corrêa, Barros, Castanheda and Góis, were compared for the purpose of determining where to search for the wreck-site. Although no record exists of the Portuguese contemplating additional salvage of the wrecks, a letter to Dom Francisco de Almeida, first Viceroy of India, dated 10 September 1508, tells how a sworn enemy of the Portuguese got to the site first and apparently recovered the guns that Ataíde and the surviving crews left behind (ANTT-CC, 1508). The guns, including 50 or 60 berços, two bombardas grossas and one falcaõ, where then in the hands of Malik Ayaz, who, as the governor of Diu and their main adversary in Gujarat (Pearson, 1976: 67), recently handed the Portuguese their first naval defeat in the Indian Ocean at the Battle of Chaul in March 1508. Undoubtedly the most upsetting fact for Almeida was that this valuable and strategically important collection of ordnance had been recovered from the Sodré wreck-site in Khuriya Muriya. Almeida was already aggrieved that his son Lourenço had been defeated and lost his life in the battle, but now he learned that the guns Malik Ayaz used to inflict this blow were Portuguese. No doubt this provided extra motivation for Almeida to take his revenge against Malik Ayaz and the Egyptian-Gujarati fleet, which he promptly did in early 1509 at the Battle of Diu (Pearson, 1976: 70). A detailed comparative analysis of the primary and secondary accounts resulted in the wreck location being precisely described in geographic terms. The location was: 1) in the Khuriya Muriya Islands of Oman; 2) the island was inhabited; 3) it possessed a large cove sheltered from the west winds and with good holding for anchors; 4) a beach suitable for careening a caravel; 5) a shore line that was steeply banked; 6) the location supported an indigenous population of Moors that relied mainly on fishing; and 7) the anchorage was exposed to sudden and dangerous storm winds from the north. Our research also revealed that, except for the ships of the Sodré brothers, no early 16th-century Portuguese East Indiamen were lost in this area. Of the Khuriya Muriya Islands, only Al Hallaniyah (Fig. 2), easily the largest of the group at 14.6×7.7 km, is recorded as ever having a substantial indigenous population in the past (Hulton, 1840: 185). An Admiralty chart produced after an 1837 hydrographic survey of the waters around the island showed two anchorages on opposite ends of the northern coast, each with a nearby well that would have been necessary to support a local population. One of the anchorages serves the present-day village and is the site for a new port facility, while the anchorage off the far north-eastern coast of the island in Ghubbat ar Rahib Bay is remote and, until early 2014, could only be reached by boat. Both anchorages are exposed to a dangerous northerly wind, known as the belatt, which is strongest in Khuriya Muriya Bay (Hulton, 1840: 190; UK Hydrographic Dept, 1987: 252). Armed with these clues, a two-man reconnaissance team, authorized by the Oman Government, visited the island in May 1998 to search for the wrecks using visual methods and hand-held metal detectors. After an exhaustive search of the north-western anchorage proved negative, the team moved to Ghubbat ar Rahib Bay where they identified a location that closely matched all the geographical features of the wreck-site as described in the contemporary accounts outlined above. During a short search of the seabed, more than 20 round shot made of stone, 95–220 mm in diameter, possibly indicative of a shipwreck, were visible on the seabed within a series of narrow sand- and rock-filled gullies intersecting the bedrock that slopes into the bay. Water depths within the gullies ranged from c.2–6 m. The site was revisited in late 1998 to conduct a more detailed reconnaissance survey of the bay, archaeological mapping of the gullies and stone shot, and trial excavations to determine the possibility of buried material and the likely depth of burial. More large round shot were discovered; some were limestone but all others were handmade from igneous rock and were identically carved with the letters 'VS'. Surveys using a hand-held metal detector led to the discovery of a lead sounding-weight, a fragmented pewter plate, a perforated lead disc and a large area of concretion from which 23 lead-iron composite shot were recovered. The shot were similar to those found on a number of 16th-century shipwrecks, including the 1545 Mary Rose (Walker et al., 1989; Hildred, 2011: 348), the 1554 Padre Island shipwrecks (Arnold and Weddle, 1978: 250–1), and a suspected Portuguese wreck in the Seychelles (Blake and Green, 1986: 11). While these finds strengthened the belief that the site could be where the Sodré ships wrecked and that a full-scale excavation would yield more conclusive evidence, the logistical difficulty of supporting such a complex operation in this remote location led to the project being suspended. Following a series of meetings with Oman's Ministry of Heritage and Culture (MHC) the first author was able to address these challenges and a written agreement was signed with the MHC in April 2013 to jointly conduct and co-manage the project on a collaborative basis. The MHC is the official government body responsible for the protection of Oman's underwater cultural heritage and their management of this project represents the first government-led archaeological excavation of an historic wreck-site in Omani waters. Although Oman is not a signatory to the UNESCO Convention for the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage, the agreement calls for all aspects of the project to be conducted to the highest-possible scientific and archaeological standards and as a minimum to conform to the standards enshrined in the UNESCO Convention. Following conservation and archaeological analysis, the recovered artefacts will be preserved in a single coherent collection owned by the MHC for ultimate display in the new National Museum of Oman. Excluding grants awarded to David Mearns by the National Geographic Society Expeditions Council and the Waitt Foundation, funding for the project has been provided entirely by the MHC. Subsequently, two more extensive investigations of the site have been conducted.1 In May 2013, a two-week reconnaissance high-resolution geophysical survey of the entire Ghubbat ar Rahib anchorage was conducted, along with repeat mapping of the stone shot locations in the gullies to determine whether there was any disturbance of the site or significant shifting of the surface artefacts. Fortunately there was none. However, because infrastructure development on the island would soon make the bay accessible by vehicle for the first time, thus dramatically increasing the risk of unauthorized disturbance to the site, the MHC decided that all surface artefacts should be recovered. These included a matched pair of copper-alloy sheaves, a ship's bell that was found lodged under a large boulder, and a further 38 stone shot of various sizes. The second expedition took place between April and May 2014 with the primary goal of excavating the wreck-site confined within the shallow-water nearshore gully. It was estimated that 950 cubic metres of sand and rock would have to be removed to excavate the site to bedrock, which necessitated the use of multiple airlifts driven by a large diesel-engine air-compressor. Over a 22-day period nearly 40% of the site was successfully excavated leading to the recovery of an additional 1911 individual artefacts from the densest concentration of the wreck material. This paper, which is an interim report of this ongoing project, discusses the analytical study and interpretation of key artefacts that help to identify the site as the location where the Sodré ships were wrecked, and Vicente Sodré's nau Esmeralda as the probable source of the remaining cultural material. Ghubbat ar Rahib bay is a natural anchorage off the north-eastern coast of Al Hallaniyah Island (Fig. 2). Large stone anchors discovered in the bay indicate that it has been used in the past as an anchorage by ships in this region. The bay extends approximately 3.8 km from Ra's al Hallaniyah, a wind-eroded limestone bluff projecting northward, to Ra's Sayyir the low-lying eastern extremity of the island. Owing to its position in combination with the height of Ra's al Hallaniyah (501 m) and other internal peaks on the island rising to 503 m, the bay provides natural shelter from winds SE through S, to NW. However, the bay is fully exposed to the north and winds and swell generated during the north-east monsoon. Depths in the bay slope gradually and uniformly to the north, while the fine, sandy bottom provides good holding for anchors. Two known steel shipwrecks located in the bay were investigated as part of the overall project to document all cultural material for Oman's MHC. The City of Winchester was a 6601-ton British cargo steamer captured at the outbreak of WW1 by the Imperial German Navy and later scuttled after 400 tons of her bunker coal was removed (Walter, 1994). The wreck now lies in the centre of the bay, approximately 1300 m from shore, at a depth of 28 m (Fig. 2). In late 1999, a 750-ton cargo ship, Al Quasmi, carrying 5-litre containers of oil, ran hard aground and was left stranded in the south-western corner of the bay. All that remains of this dismantled ship are some sections of the steel hull lying along the rocky shoreline and in the adjacent shallow water (Fig. 2). A high-resolution geophysical survey of the main anchorage area, encompassing 2.5 km2, was conducted at the start of the 2013 field season to map and investigate all anomalies that might represent archaeological material connected with the Portuguese squadron or other wrecks (Fig. 2). The survey was conducted in the highest-possible detail using sidescan sonar (Edgetech 4125; 400/900 kHz), caesium magnetometer (Geometrics G822), echo-sounding (Garmin 240) and sub-metre GPS positioning equipment (C-Nav 3050). The resolution and conditions were sufficient to detect seabed targets as small as 0.10 m and magnetic anomalies of 1 nT. Following the survey all anomalies were investigated by divers used hand-held magnetometers and metal detectors as required. The geophysical survey resulted in two prominent targets that were detected simultaneously by the sidescan sonar and magnetometer sensors. The first was identified by divers in 2013 as the remains of a small steam-driven ship's boat or pinnace. The remains included a scotch boiler, valve gear, steam whistle, 2–cylinder engine and propeller shaft. No identifying marks were found on either the engine or boiler. The second target was a large iron anchor that was originally found with only the tip (c.0.8m) of one fluke exposed above the seabed. The rest of the anchor was deeply buried and was excavated during the 2014 field season using a water dredge. Once the whole anchor was exposed and measured it was found to be identical to another anchor on the site of the City of Winchester. This evidence strongly indicates that the anchor, as well as the pinnace, originate from the Winchester and were lost during the action with the Imperial German Navy. The rest of this article concerns the site of the Portuguese shipwreck (site code AH1) located within a series of narrow interconnected gullies, which intersect reef rock that slopes seaward from the foreshore. Three gullies have been designated: a major gulley Z, which initially runs perpendicular to shore and then parallel with it; a sub-gulley X, which separates and re-joins Z; and gulley W, which leads up on to shore and experiences considerable wave surge particularly at low tide (Fig. 3). The fill of the gullies is largely sand, boulders, rock scree and broken coral, with an underlying granite bedrock approximately 1 m below the current seabed. The fill most closely matches Grade 14 (Sandy Gravel) of Gregory's theoretical grade of preservation (2006: 14). In gulley W the fill consists largely of boulders with relatively little sand. The maximum length of gullies over which finds have been recovered is 115 m, with the width of gullies ranging 5–18 m and water depths of 2–6 m. Despite the repeated searching of adjacent gullies with metal detectors and test trenches, no artefacts were found outside the confines of the site described above. The site was divided into a series of adjoining 1 m grid squares using frames made up on location from 3 m-long, 48 mm-diameter steel pipes joined at the corners by four cross Kee Klamp® frame joints. The frames resulted in a series of 3×3 m grids that were further separated into nine 1 m squares using rope lines fixed with elastic cords. The frames were positioned as close to the seabed as possible and supported by adjustable legs (Fig. 4). All finds recovered from each square were individually numbered in relation to their grid position. Twenty-one 3 m2 grids were excavated, which represents approximately 38% of the total area of the site (Fig. 3). The position and orientation of the frames was determined using conventional 3D tape trilateration (Direct Survey Method) referenced to a network of 15 fixed survey control points (CPs) installed on the seabed and positioned relative to each other, and in real world coordinates (WGS 84), using a combination of distance and depth measurements plus position measurements derived from GPS. The CPs were 8 mm-diameter mild-steel reinforcing bar, hammered into cracks in the rock and marked with yellow plastic discs. The position of each excavation frame was then calculated by taking three or four distance measurements and a depth measurement from the top of two diagonally opposite corner posts. The distance and depth measurements were adjusted using Site Recorder 4 software, which calculated the best estimate of position for each survey control point. After the adjustment, the measurements fit together to a precision of 15 mm (RMS residuals), with 51 distance and depth measurements used to calculate 15 CP positions. Surveys of this nature should achieve RMS residuals below 30 mm under normal diving conditions, so the results are better than expected given the considerable wave surge experienced on site. Excavation involved the controlled removal of all sediment and finds within the area down to bedrock. Spoil was removed by airlifts and by hand in areas with delicate material. The site contained many rocks of boulder size between 25 kg and 1500 kg in weight. These were removed by placing them into one-tonne-bulk-container bags and then moving these with the use of air bags, or, in the case of large boulders, by strops connected directly to the air bags. Boulders were either moved to an adjacent area away from the excavation, or, in some situations, depending on the available space, they were returned to the excavated area on completion of excavation work in order to backfill the excavated holes. Much of this work involved the use of hand fanning for the removal of sediment and the use 4 lb lump hammers, chisels and crowbars for the removal of more robust material. Where material was heavily concreted to the bedrock pneumatic chipping hammers were used to break up concretions and free the material held within. The finds recovered to date1 are indicative of the contents and components of a ship, absent the ship itself. No hull timbers or large ship structures have been found. This is not surprising given: 1) the ferocity of the storm that drove the ships aground and undoubtedly continued to break the hulls apart; 2) the extent of contemporaneous salvage conducted by the surviving Portuguese, which included setting fire to the two ships (Ataíde, 1504); and 3) the shallowness of the site and lack of sediment cover to protect any remaining timbers from constant degradation in this high-energy and biologically active environment. Nevertheless, our initial analysis and interpretation of the main groups of finds at this interim stage of the project provides ample evidence to identify the site as the location where the Sodré ships were wrecked. Prior to the most recent excavation campaign in late 2015, the assemblage of recovered ceramics consisted of 554 objects, of which only two were small intact vessels with the remainder being sherds. The ceramics were directly observed by Tânia M. Casimiro of Universidade Nova de Lisboa at the MHC conservation laboratory in Muscat in January 2016, including the ceramics recently recovered in late 2015, making a total of 1039 sherds. Casimiro's assessment was some 52% of the objects were produced in Portugal using red micaceous fabrics that are usually related with the Lisbon area, with their shapes corresponding to everyday wares such as cooking pots, costrels, lids and cups (Fig. 5a-d). Asian ceramics were also frequently identified with the presence of Ming productions such as Hongzhi porcelain (1488–1505), celadon plates and martaban (Fig. 6), and diverse blue-glazed objects that were likely produced in Iran (Fig. 5f). West African pots, shaped and decorated to resemble baskets were also part of the collection (Fig. 5e). The absence of any Iberian tin-glazed wares on the site should be noted. These are a constant presence in Portuguese terrestrial and underwater archaeological contexts from the second half of the 16th century onwards and are rare or non-existent in earlier chronologies. In this sense, considering the type of ceramics found, the site can be broadly dated between 1450 and 1550 (Casimiro, pers. comm., unpublished report Jan 2016). The