Bajo de la Campana shipwreck
Marker: recorded wreck position (Date not recorded).
Key facts
| Name | Bajo de la Campana shipwreck | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Ship type | shipwreck | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Sea / ocean | Mediterranean Sea | Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon |
| Nearest coast | Spain | Natural Earth (public domain); approx. 12 km from land |
| Position | 37.7364, -0.6925 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
The Bajo de la Campana Phoenician shipwreck is a seventh-century BC shipwreck of a Phoenician trade ship found at Bajo de la Campana, a submerged rock reef near Cartagena, Spain. This shipwreck was accidentally discovered in the 1950s. It is the earliest Phoenician shipwreck to date to undergo an archaeological excavation. Over the course of four field seasons, researchers conducted almost 4,000 dives and over 300 hours of exploration. The sunken ship spilled its cargo in and around an underwater cave at the edge of the Bajo reef. Among the artifacts recovered were fragments of the ship's hull, along with terracotta vessels, including amphoras, bowls, and plates. Among the cargo were elephant ivory tusks, indicating Phoenician trade connections with regions where elephants were native. Additionally, the discovery of tin ingots, copper ingots, and galena nuggets suggests the ship's involvement in long-distance trade networks. The cargo also contained pine cones, double-sided wooden combs, amber nodules from the Baltic, and various raw materials such as timber and resin.
Diving & visiting
The Bajo de la Campana, located approximately 2.5 km (1.6 mi) offshore from La Manga del Mar Menor and is located around 20 miles Northeast of Cartagena, Spain. Bajo de la Campana consists of three geological formations: Isla Grosa, El Farallón rock, and La Laja reef. La Laja, also known as the Bajo de la Campana, is a shallow reef rising from a depth of about 16 m (52 feet) to within 2 m (6.6 feet) of the water’s surface, making it a navigational hazard. Shipwreck debris surrounding the Bajo indicates its historical danger. Other ancient shipwrecks at Bajo de la Campana include a Punic ship from the 2nd century BCE and a Roman ship from the 1st century CE.
Archaeological material was first discovered at the site in 1958 by commercial scrap-metal salvaging divers and later by recreational divers.
Location
- Recorded position: 37.7364, -0.6925 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
- Sea / ocean: Mediterranean Sea
- Nearest coast: Spain
Wreck positions on this site are for interest only and are not for navigation. Many wrecks are war graves or legally protected: never disturb human remains or remove artefacts, and check local law before diving.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Bajo de la Campana Phoenician shipwreck (revision 1364728196), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Location and discovery”; condensed by selecting paragraphs and trimming at sentence boundaries; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).
Nearby wrecks
- SS Sirio 1906 · 10 km
- Phoenician shipwrecks of Mazarrón 54 km
- U-74 1942 · 92 km
- U-83 1943 · 93 km
- U-431 1943 · 119 km
- Ursa Major 2024 · 143 km
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