- Jean Gran-Aymerich with Jean MacIntosh Turfa –
The Mediterranean waters of the Iberian Peninsula have been scoured for Etruscan
amphorae and bronzes: in the province of Gerona in Catalonia, along Castellon de la
Plana, and at Cabanyal-Malvarrosa, along Valencia. Likewise are the bronzes further to
the south, along Xabia-Javea (Alacant-Alicante) and in the Balearics in the shipwreck of
Cala S. Vicenç.^151
These underwater discoveries offer us a picture of interrupted commerce, and are
potentially very rich in data. Although none of these shipwrecks has furnished a complete
cargo, they all reveal a remarkable diversity of merchandise, objects and origins. For the
Antibes shipwreck, the discovery of a Punic lamp has been suggested as evidence of a
Punic man on board, either as a sailor or traveler. For the Giglio shipwreck (Campese), the
ceremonial armor – including the fi nely decorated Corinthian style helmet – associated
with the writing tablets and musical instruments (fl utes) suggest the presence on board
of a naukleros, a ship-owner or merchant, either Greek or Etruscan.^152 The presence of a
Punic water jar apparently used by the crew of the Giglio merchantman, raises issues of
“registry” in the ethnicity of the seafarers.
This ensemble of shipwrecks carrying Etruscan goods is evidence of out-going
commercial enterprises originating from Etruscan ports, regardless of the origins of the
ships themselves. By contrast, we know of no shipwrecks along the return journey. Only
the underwater deposit of Rochelongue (Agde) suggests this hypothesis: hundreds of
salvaged bronzes dating to different proto-historic periods, the copper ingots and the
packets of tin beads would constitute the remains of a shipwreck from the seventh
century, sailed in the direction of Marseille and Etruria.^153 It is good to remember here a
shipwreck and the traces of a second on the route from the Straits of Gibraltar heading
towards the central Mediterranean, even if, in appearance at least, it would not appear
to have anything to do with Etruscan seafaring: the shipwrecks of Bajo de la Campana
(Almería littoral) and of Mazarrón (Murcia, Carthaginian littoral). These two deposits
have furnished whole elephant tusks, some of which were inscribed in Punic.^154 This is
the only evidence of the trade in ivory for the Orientalizing and Archaic periods, and we
know that the most active ivory centers in the West in these periods were in the southern
Iberian Peninsula, whence came these two ships heading to Carthage and to Etruria
(principally Caere and Vulci).
The interior of Gaul has furnished Etruscan objects amongst the river fi nds. In truth,
fi bulae and other Etruscan bronzes have appeared during previous excavations of the
Seine at Paris and the confl uence of the Rhône-Saône at Lyons, and as well in the Auron
at Bourges and in the Loire by Amboise and close to Tours. These discoveries have often
inspired skepticism, but the recent discoveries of Etruscan imports in the ports on the
large rivers seem to support the existence of such distribution by fl uvial routes. Indicative
of this are the Etruscan amphorae discovered at Bragny sur Saône and at Lyons on the
Rhône, and likewise the Etruscan fi bula a sanguisuga, associated with a small tin ingot
brought to light in Bercy (Paris) on the banks of the Seine.^155
In the eastern Mediterranean, however, the picture is different, in large part due to
the state of excavation of the old Greek and Near Eastern cities and to the diffi culties
of identifying goods other than distinctive bucchero or Vulcian bronzes. It is likely that
most Etruscan exports are no longer recognizable in the archaeological record, as they
would have been metal ingots, or even ore, shipped through the Italian archipelago,
as attested in the discovery of Elban hematite (iron ore) in the industrial quarter of the
eighth-century colony of Pithekoussai.^156 Likewise, timber, agricultural products, leather