Emily Chan
At the bottom of the sea, there lies a 13th-century shipwreck. From within the remains of the vessel, maritime archaeologists uncovered two large grave slabs.
The medieval ship is named the “Mortar Wreck.” Around 800 years ago, it sank in the waters off the coast of the Isle of Purbeck, a peninsula located in the county of Dorset in southern England.
The shipwreck is the oldest known wreck in English waters. At the time it went under, it had been carrying various cargo items, such as the grave slabs and numerous grinding mortars.
The slabs and mortars were all made of Purbeck Marble, which is a fossil-containing limestone that is only found on the peninsula.
It has been quarried since at least Roman times and used as a decorative building stone. It is one of the most distinctive decorative stones used to construct the churches and cathedrals of England.
A team of maritime archaeologists and divers led by Tom Cousins from Bournemouth University in Dorset recovered the grave slabs from the sunken vessel at a depth of around 23 feet. The process took about two hours.
One of the slabs is fully intact and remarkably well-preserved. It measured approximately five feet long and weighed an estimated 154 pounds.
The other slab is much larger, but it had broken up into two pieces. When put together, the pieces reached a length of more than six feet and weighed roughly 440 pounds.
Carvings of Christian crosses were engraved on both of the slabs. They would have served as lids for coffins or crypt monuments for clergy individuals of high status.
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