Augustinus in der Neuzeit
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Book Series
Modern & Contemporary History (Outside a Series)
- Pages: xxxvi + 358 p.
- Size:216 x 280 mm
- Illustrations:357 b/w, 9 col., 25 tables b/w., 9 maps b/w
- Language(s):English
- Publication Year:2019
- € 90,00 EXCL. VAT RETAIL PRICE
- ISBN: 978-2-503-58103-3
- Paperback
- Available
- € 90,00 EXCL. VAT RETAIL PRICE
- ISBN: 978-2-503-58112-5
- E-book
- Available
Review(s)
“It will be read with profit not only by students of Napoleonic naval warfare (who will find it fascinating and informative), but by archaeologists and historians of all periods and persuasions who wish to learn more of methodologies, philosophies, and approaches that can only expand their understanding of the past.” (Colin Martin, in The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, 49/1, 2020, p. 219)
Summary
The Italian brig Mercurio was escorting the French 80-gun vessel Rivoli from Venice on its very first expedition, in 1812, when it was sunk by an English ship during the Battle of Grado. Since the wreck was identified, the Mercurio has been the site of several underwater excavations, beginning in 2001 and continuing from 2004 to 2011 by a team from the Università Ca’ Foscari of Venice, together with the local Soprintendenza. Their work revealed a number of extraordinary finds and provided a unique insight into life — and death — on a brig during the period of the Napoleonic wars.
This volume offers a discussion and catalogue of the finds yielded by the Mercurio, including photogrammetry-plans of the bow and stern, together with an analysis of ship-building technique, detail of the equipment and arms used, and, uniquely, close detail of finds connected to the crew themselves. This is one of the few sites from the Mediterranean where human remains have been preserved, and through the work of anthropologists, it has even been possible to try and identify one of the men named on the crew list. Discovery of buttons, footwear, precious items, and even foodstuffs also serve to shed light on the daily life of the crew. This volume thus draws together a wealth of archaeological and historical information to tell the hitherto untold story of the Mercurio.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Illustrations
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction — CARLO BELTRAME
Part I: Historical Context and the Battle of Grado
1. Napoleon’s Italian Navy — PIERO CROCIANI
2. The Event in its Context — CARLO BELTRAME
3. The Mercurio According to the Historical Data — CARLO BELTRAME
Part II: The Discovery, the Site, and the Methodology of Investigation
1. The Discovery of the Shipwreck and its Identification — CARLO BELTRAME
2. The Environmental Characteristics of the Site and its Aspect at the Moment of the Discovery —CARLO BELTRAME
3. Conditions of Preservation of the Objects — CARLO BELTRAME
4. The Dynamics of the Sinking and the Formation Processes — CARLO BELTRAME
5. Methods and Techniques of Investigation — CARLO BELTRAME
Part III: The Ship
1. The Hull — CARLO BELTRAME
2. Equipment — CARLO BELTRAME
3 Furniture and Lighting —CARLO BELTRAME AND STEFANIA MANFIO
4. Armament —CARLO BELTRAME
5. Projectiles —CARLO BELTRAME
6. Galley — STEFANIA MANFIO
7. Sanitary and Medical Arrangements — STEFANIA MANFIO
Part IV: The Crew
1. Osteological Analysis of the Crew — FRANCESCA BERTOLDI, FIORELLA BESTETTI, ROBERTO CAMERIERE, AND CARLOTTA SISALLI
2. Crew, Uniforms, and Weapons —SOPHIA DONADEL
3. Gunflints — PAOLO BIAGI AND ELISABETTA STARNINI
4. Personal Possessions — CARLO BELTRAME
5. Coins — TOMASO LUCCHELLI
Conclusions — CARLO BELTRAME
References
Appendices
Appendix A: Conservation of the Waterlogged Wood — TIZIANA LANAVE
Appendix B: The Conservation of the Leather — NECULINA CONDRACHE AND SOPHIA DONADEL
Appendix C: The Restoration and Conservation of some Metallic Finds — GIUSEPPE MORETTI
Appendix D: Transcriptions of Documents — Documents from Tracy, 2000
Catalogue
