Identifying a shipwreck can sometimes take years, and the older it is, the more discovering its history and unearthing its secrets becomes challenging. Jean-Sébastien Guibert, a lecturer in history and archaeology at the University of the Antilles, decided to take on this challenge two years ago with the Anémone, a schooner of the royal navy sunk in the 19th century during a cyclone in the bay of Terre de Haut, in Les Saintes, Guadeloupe. « It is the only example of a schooner wreck that is accessible and can be excavated. »
The first probing operation was launched in 2015, with the goal of confirming hypotheses about the ship’s name and precisely locating each part of the wreck. To accomplish this, accompanied by professional divers from the Archéologie des Petites Antilles (AAPA) association, the researcher followed many leads: « we based ourselves on archives mentioning the ship, we discovered artillery elements, furniture from the 19th century, lead bullets, sabers corresponding to the era, and we also studied the shape of the hull particular to a certain type of schooner of this century. »
Funded by the Ministry of Research, the Guadeloupe region, the territorial collectivity of Martinique, the DMPA (Department of Memory, Heritage, and Archives of the Ministry of Defense) and authorized by the DRASSM (Department of Underwater and Subaquatic Archaeological Research of the Ministry of Culture), excavations have been organized every summer since then. They are part of a broader project entitled « History and Maritime Archaeology of the Lesser Antilles » (HARCMAR) developed within the AIHP GEODE laboratory at the University of the Antilles.
Their goal? To find still little-known elements of this customs ship belonging to the Royal Navy but also objects, traces of daily life of sailors or soldiers on board. But although the wreck is only 25 meters deep, this work remains laborious, as Jean-Sébastien Guibert explains: « the site has been looted multiple times in the past, so a good part of the furniture has disappeared, and what remains today is hardly representative of what we are looking for. »
Despite this, numerous items of all kinds have been taken out of the water, painstakingly inventoried, and preserved or treated: « in 2015 we found a very beautiful stoneware jug, in 2016 a copper box that was likely used to keep food warm in the kitchen, a wine bottle with its cork still in place – but undrinkable for those who might wonder – and very pretty stemmed glasses. »
This summer, the excavations focused on the rear of the ship, near the area where the officers’ quarters (the captain and the surgeon) were located, determined by several elements found on site such as a saber scabbard and fine crockery (plates, stemmed glasses, etc.). By studying the keel and ribs, the 14 divers involved in this campaign uncovered a magnificent rudder, nearly complete and measuring almost 3 meters.
The next two campaigns, in 2018 and 2019, promise just as many great discoveries on the central and forward parts of the wreck. « It’s a new challenge ahead of us with a very difficult part to access due to the wood being concreted. This work will undoubtedly be complicated but just as exciting« , confided Jean-Sébastien Guibert.
Margot Hartyopening photo © Claude Michaud AAPA/AIHP GEODE