| Summary : Assemblage of Middle Bronze Age weapons thought to represent part of a contemporary cargo and thereby indicative of a shipwreck which foundered off Moor Sand. Dated to around the 12th century BC, swords, palstaves, and other bronze materials have been recovered, thought to have been manufactured in France. If this is the case, then France may have been the de facto departure point of any wrecked vessel for which no structure appears to have been found. The vessel concerned would have been constructed of wood and probably powered by oars or paddles, perhaps with a sail. Finds in 2009 in between and within the designated areas of both the Moor Sand and Salcombe Cannon site (1439037) suggest a relationship between the two sites, possibly as a single site. |
More information : DESIGNATED WRECK SITE - MOOR SAND
Summary:
Site consists of a scatter of Bronze Age implements found between 1977 and 1982.
Designation History:
Statutory Instrument: No.1, 1978, No.199, 08-MAR-1978.
Amended [re-designated]: 1979, No.56, 16-FEB-1979
Protected Area: Within 300m radius of position 50 12.70'N, 03
44.33'W excluding any part of the area mark of ordinary spring tides.
Originally designated for its archaeological significance; it may represent the oldest possible shipwreck site in Britain, with evidence of trade in the Bronze Age, either from an actual shipwreck or from votive offerings [i.e. cast into the sea]. (15)
Visit by Government Diving Contractor:
St Andrews University - Archaeological Diving Unit (ADU) April 1986 - April 2003
1988, 1994, 1995, 1999
Wessex Archaeology 1st May 2003 -
Archaeological History:
04-JUL-1977: A fine Bronze Age sword was found on the sea bed between two rocks at Moor Sands in a depth of 6.5m by Mr P Baker and a novice diver. A further search revealed another eroded blade. These appear to have originated from north east France, Bronze final 1 period. (7) The palstaves both belong to the 'Breton Group', generally agreed to be imports or copies of imports and dated to the Bronze Moyen 111/Bronze Final 1 transition. The classification of the blades is difficult because of their eroded condition, but a metal sample from one showed it to be of a later phase than the others, Bronze Final 11 at the earliest.
They were conserved by Doncaster Museum. (8)
1979: Search with metal detecting equipment failed to find any further artefacts. (15)
August 1982:- A short season of work was carried out by a team of Underwater Archaeologists from the National Maritime Museum. Using techniques developed on the Bronze Age wreck site at Dover, an area of the seabed was systematically searched in an attempt to assess the potential for work. No finds were made within the searched area but, while trying to locate datum points from earlier work, a bronze sword handle was discovered exposed on top of sand in a gully 20m to the south west. Preliminary identification places the sword in the flanged-hilt family and its finding brings the total of bronzes from the site to eight. The fact that it was discovered in an area carefully searched in previous years suggests mobility of either sands and gravels, or artefacts, or both. Future work will have to include excavation of some gullies to see if there is evidence for such movement or any indication as to whether the objects are from a wreck or an eroded land site. (Unpublished note, NMM.)
2003: Magnetometer survey carried out by the ADU and the boat EXPLORER. (15)
Droit 473/09: A bronze leaf sword; 259 copper ingots; 3 gold wrist torcs; 2 lead fragments; 3 stone fragments; 27 tin ingots, all of Bronze Age date, recovered from the Wash Gulley in the area within and between the Salcombe and Moor Sands protected wreck sites. (17)
Droit 077/10: 4 Tin ingots, 8 Copper ingots. 1 Bronze leaf sword, Ewart Park phase. Wash Gulley area between sites in a concentrated area. These finds are a continuation of the team's 2009 season objectives and were carried out under licence to English Heritage / DCMS as both Moor Sands and Salcombe are protected wreck sites. (18)
Current Interpretation:
The site consists of a scatter of eight Middle Bronze Age implements discovered between 1977 and 1982. Due to the good condition of the objects the most credible theory is that they have always lain inshore since deposition 3000 years ago and until recently have been protected by the nature of the environment. (10)
It is not certain whether this is a wreck deposit, but there is sufficient evidence for the objects to be treated as an imported cargo.
The documentary and material archive from the site is currently (2005) being assessed by the University of Bournemouth as part of an EH-funded "Bronze Age Designated Wreck Site Archive Assessment", with a view to a future monograph. (15)
The South West Maritime Archaeological Group website includes a feature on the discovery of the Bronze Age wreck at Moor Sands. (15)
Comments attached to droits: From their location between the two sites, the 2009 finds declared to the Receiver of Wreck suggest that the Salcombe Cannon and Moor Sands sites are part of the same wreck. (17)
Environmental and Archaeological Remains:
The site lies off a pebble beach with a rocky coast backed by cliffs. The bedrock both onshore and offshore consists mostly of hornblendic and chloric schists making up most of Prawle Point with mica and quartz schists to the north. The seabed gently slopes out, the area is exposed and subject to heavy swells rolling in from the Atlantic.
The site lies in shallow water of approximately 4 to 8 metres depth, with a gravel seabed, and lies just off the eponymous sandy beach of Moor Sand. Many gullies lie in the vicinity of the site with a dense canopy of kelp and other seaweed, rendering visual surveys difficult. (15)
Archaeological Remains:
None remain apart from the raised artefacts, i.e. the eight Middle Bronze Age artefacts discovered between 1977 and 1982, of French origin, and suggestive of the cargo of a Middle Bronze Age vessel. (15)
Current Condition:
Rocky gullies filled with semi-mobile sand, gravel and pebbles.
Physical Evidence:
The raised bronze artefacts.
Area Covered:
Site lies eastward of a pebble beach.
Finds:
One Bronze age sword along with four blades and two palstaves.
The sword has been dated to the Bronze Final 1 / Bronze Moyen III. It was harder to classify the blades due to their eroded condition, but they are from Bronze Final II at the earliest.
A find site of bronze weapons. (14)
The South West Maritime Archaeological Group website includes a feature on the discovery of the Bronze Age wreck at Moor Sands. (15)
A sword, copper and tin ingots, gold torcs, and both lead and tin fragments recovered from the Wash Gulley in between the Salcombe Bronze Age and Moor Sand sites. (17)
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