Archaeologists study crumbling 1,300-year-old shipwreck

• A 1,300-year-old shipwreck so fragile that air could destroy it.
• Archaeologists face a race against time to reveal its medieval secrets.
• The partial remains of the 40-foot-long boat; were unveiled at Villenave-d’Ornon.

“Every piece of wood that is deconstructed; informs us more about early Middle Ages shipbuilding techniques”; said the project’s principal archaeologist.

Archeologists are racing against time to uncover the secrets of a 1,300-year-old shipwreck; discovered in southern France, which is so delicate that air could destroy it.

The “very uncommon” 40-foot-long boat, which radiocarbon dates from between A.D. 680 and A.D. 720; was unveiled on Wednesday in Villenave-d’Ornon, near Bordeaux.

Read More: Archaeologists in Iran

The boat was a “extraordinary monument to the maritime construction of the upper Middle Ages”; according to the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research; and could have crossed rivers as well as the French Atlantic coast.

“We are watering the wreck every 30 minutes to limit the degradation of the ship’s wood; especially at the time with the warmth in the southwest of France”; Laurent Grimbert, the institute’s excavation leader, explained.

Read More: Archaeologists find 2,700-year-old toilet cubicle