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Nossa Senhora da Luz is the name of a shipwrecked carrack (cargo ship) lost in 1615 along the southern coast of the civil parish of Angústias on the island of Faial, at the entrance to the bay of Porto Pim, in the Azores.[1] Part of the East Indian shipping, the carrack was identified in 1999 by a team of archaeologists from the Centro Nacional de Arqueologia Náutica e Subaquática (CNANS), and excavated after 2002, in an investigation carried-out by Arqueonova[2], that included representation/support from various national and regional organizations.[1]

The excavation was supported by the Musuem of Horta, where many of the recovered artifacts were collected and restored.[1] The Municipal Council of Horta financed the work in 2002, following the sign of a cultural collaboration protocol, between it and the Departamento de Oceanografia e Pescas (the University of the Azores' Department of Oceangraphy and Fishing), which provided a diving services and the Direcção Regional da Cultura (Regional Cultural Directorate) which provided its ship the Paulo da Gama and diving equipment.[1] At the same time, CNAN provided prospecting material, while lodging was provided by the physical education delegation of the island of Faial.[1]

History[edit]

The islands of the archipelago of the Azores were an important trans-Atlantic stopover for east Indian shipping that connected Lisbon to the Far East, but which had its important epoch during the regular carrack traffic by Castilian ships from the American continent.[3] Most of this activity was affected by politics and Atlantic conditions, and ships frequently diverted to the Azores in order to re-provision, rest or re-orient themselves, as well as avoiding Atlantic storms.[3] This stopover included various activities: defense, naval repairs, provisioning, refreshing the crews, protection of cargo, which were all handled by the Provedoria das Armadas.[4] This Crown institution was established in 1527, in Angra, then the principal stopover port in the region between the 16th-17th century, in order to guarantee the protection of vessels coming from India, Brazil and Africa from pirates and privateers, as well as saving their goods in case of shipwrecks.[4] In order to support these activities, the islands were protected by a small provisionary fleet, and the ports of Angra, Ponta Delgada and Horta were fortified for the task.[4]

Journey[edit]

The carrack Nossa Senhora da Luz, departed in 1614 from Lisbon and arrived on 7 November with half its passengers and crew dead.[5] Its captain was Dom Manuel Coutinho, who was authorized to follow the routed stipulated on his departure, that was defined by the Captaincy, and implied the late return of textiles, spices and merchandise on its return voyage.[5] The return armada was composed of five carracks, the Nossa Senhora da Luz, Nossa Senhora dos Remédios, Nossa Senhora de Guadalupe, the São Boaventura and the São Filipe (captained by João Trigueiros), in addition to two Hulks.[5] At the time military regulations required the ships to travel without cargo to India, and return loaded, but were forbidden to stopover in Mozambique, Saint Helena or the Azores.[5] Following its loading, the ship continued its return leg, beginning in Goa on 9 February 1615, but the captain of the São Filipe was obliged to offload excess cargo that was badly stowed and they were delayed in departing until 15 February 1516.[5] Another ship on the return had to be abandoned in the Maldives following water seepage, but they arrived in Angola where the remaining ships were provided with food and water.[5]

By the time the armada reached the Atlantic, there were few incidence until the Azores, when the São Filipe departed from the flagship on 31 October some 470 nautical miles (870 km) from the southwest of Terceira.[6] The São Filipe headed for Angra, along with a carrack that had accompanied it from Angola, where it arrived and remained between 5-6 November, before continuing onto its destination.[6][7]

Shipwreck[edit]

Meanwhile, the Nossa Senhora da Luz looked for shelter in Faial, at the entrance to the bay of Porto Pim, when it arrived on 6 November already with the artillery and part of the cargo discharged and water in the holds.[6] During the night, there was storm that battered the islands and increased in intensity, forcing the ship into the coast, in front of Carrasca, located on the northern shore of the anchorage area.[6] About 150 people were killed in the wreck, including passengers and crew, and a significant part of the cargo was lost.[6]

The ship's cargo was placed into protection on the beach of Porto Pim, located to the east of the wreck site, and the captain was immediately assisted by military companies under the guidance of captain Diogo Pereira de Lacerda, in collaboration with the bailiff and other bailiffs on the island.[8] In addition, the Provisioner-of-Arms, Manuel do Canto e Castro, a caravel from Terceira with divers, carpenter and seamen, who participated in the rescue of the cargo, including that washing onshore.[8] The cargo on the beach was transported to the Horta customhouse, where the goods were stored in crates.[8] But, little was done to impede looting; on 17 February, 1616, a search of the house of Manuel Fernandes do Casal, carried out by royal officials, discovered precious stones, various fabrics and spices kept there by Manuel de Ornelas (the owner's nephew).[8] The next day, judge Bartolomeu de Vasconcelos and Provisioner-of-Arms, Manuel do Canto e Castro, ordered searches of the dwellings in Porto Pim, where they discovered carpets, bedspreads and cloths located in the possession of several homeowners.[8] An inventory of the loaded materials included textiles, spices, drugs, furniture, ivory objects, stone, porcelain, beads and other articles.[9] The fabrics consisted mainly of eaves, beacons, cannons, red and cotton cloths, white cloths, striped cloths, house cloths and silk, in addition to apricots and carpets.[9] In addition to the fabrics, which apparently occupied a prominent place among the cargo loaded in Goa, were spices and other drugs: musk, incense, benzoin, amber, sealing wax and cinnamon, in addition to beads and various gemstones.[9]

The salvage of the cargo only ended in January 1616, when Bartolomeu de Vasconcelos was sent to the island of Faial with two hulks that transported the bulk of the cargo to Lisbon.[9] In addition to the passengers and crew who had been stranded on the island, the hulks transported the artillery pieces recovered that month.[9] Arriving in Lisbon by the middle of April, Cristóvão de Almada (the provisioner for India and secretary Cristóvão Soares alerted the King to the need to auction-off the merchandise from Faial as soon as possible in order to stave-off the materials loss.[10]

Archaeological study[edit]

The first attempt to identify the shipwreck's location began in 1981, when the French investigator Patrik Lizé, using written records, realized several dives along the coast of Porto Pim.[10] Later, in 1990, elements from the Grupo de Estudos Oceânicos (GEO) located a group of fragments of Chinese porcelain southeast of the fort of São Sebstião.[10] The GEO mentioned an anchor located approximately 180 metres (590 ft) from the old fort, also referred to as the Forte da Cruz dos Mortos at a depth of 31 metres (102 ft).

A new attempt to identify the site was concluded in August 1998, by a team lead by Professor Kevin Crisman, of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology (INA).[10] But, the site was only able to be identified a year later, in June 1999, by a team from CNANS.[10] The material collected during this prospecting, some fragments of blue and white porcelain, pointed to the vestiges of a ship with an Oriental origin (between the 16th-17th century), manufactured during the reign of Emporer Wanli (1573-1619).[11]

During the site identification, the association Arqueonova presented a plan to characterize the archaeological site to the Direcção Regional da Cultura (Regional Directorate for Culture) in May 2002.[10] The first campaign was initiated in September 2002, when a building was situated near the port of Horta, ceded by the Captaincy, where several tasks were undertaken: inventorying, design, photography and daily registers from the dives undertaken and storage of the artifacts unearthed.[10] At this time, a second anchor was discussed at a depth of 14 metres (46 ft), near the Portinho do Alcaide, but none was discovered.[11]

The shipwreck is situated off the southern coast of Faial, along the rocky shoreline in front of the Portinho do Alcaide, oriented along a south to north alignment comprising a 30 metres (98 ft) debris field that bulges like a slight spur, extending into submerged rocks.[10]

References[edit]

Notes
  1. ^ a b c d e José António Bettencourt (2005), p.231
  2. ^ The Associação de Arqueologia e Defesa do Património (Archeology and Heritage Defense Association)
  3. ^ a b José António Bettencourt (2005), p.232
  4. ^ a b c José António Bettencourt (2005), p.233
  5. ^ a b c d e f José António Bettencourt (2005), p.234
  6. ^ a b c d e José António Bettencourt (2005), p.235
  7. ^ Procurement was immediately arranged by decision of the Bishop, the Field Marshall and the Provisioner-of-Arms, and was carried out on 6 November: in the morning a ship with supplies went out to meet the ship; at noon another vessel with twenty-three men was sent for service; another afternoon, with the ship's clerk and the steward, the only crew members allowed to land on the island. The ship would have gone on that same night, but no longer see land by the next day. They disembarked patients (about 70 men), who were placed in the Crown-funded hospital and prevented from disembarking the produce it was carrying.
  8. ^ a b c d e José António Bettencourt (2005), p.236
  9. ^ a b c d e José António Bettencourt (2005), p.237
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h José António Bettencourt (2005), p.238
  11. ^ a b José António Bettencourt (2008), p.6
Sources
  • Bettencourt, José António (2005), Os Vestígios da Nau Nossa Senhora da Luz: Resultados dos Trabalhos Arqueológicos (in Portuguese), vol. 2 Série, Lisbon, Portugal: Arquipélago-História, pp. 231–274
  • Bettencourt, José António (30 July 2008), A Nau Nossa Senhora da Luz (1615) No Contexto da Carreira da Índia e da Escala dos Açores: Uma Abordagem Histórico-Arqueológica (in Portuguese), vol. Mestrada de Arqueologia, Lisbon, Portugal: Faculdade das Ciências Socias e Humanas, Universidade Nova de Lisboa
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