Heritage Cases

The "Ivory Wreck" site has been visited by divers for more than a decade. However, little exploratory work has been completed. Video footage aquired by the applicant in 2008 shows that the wreck site contains at least one large anchor, an iron ballast pile and two small ivory tusks, amongst other scattered concretion and ship structure. The ivory has been identified as being of particular interest as it may indicate that the vessel traded on the Africa continent. It has been suggested that the presence of ivory also suggests that the ship may be the wreck of La Cybelle, a French slave ship wrecked on 19 March 1756. This permit application is submitted to explore the possibility of the wreck being that of La Cybelle. It is envisaged that exploration will result in minimal disturbance of the site, although it may be necessary to remove some objects for identification purposes. As described, all objects will be deposited at Iziko Museums of South Africa. Excavation activities will only take place if the wreck is not sufficiently exposed. Disturbance will be kept to a minimum. Excavation work will consist of inserting small drege pits/trenches into sand above the site where structure is covered. These test pits/trenches will target areas where structure, ship fittings or equipment may exist. Testing will start at the anchor and at the concreted iron ballast pile, these being the objects that protrude most from the seabed and should be most visible. Test pits/trenches will initially be inserted to the south of these objects towards the area where ivory was observed in 2008. Dreding will be undertaken in association with Iziko Museums (using the museum's dredge pump and dredgehead) and the Slave Wrecks Project. All exploration will be undertaken for identification purposes only. Should the site be identified as La Cybelle, or other relevant shipwreck, a new application will be subitted with a detailed excavation strategy. Video footage is available and will be subitted directly to the MUCH Unit at SAHRA.