Shipwrecks of the Iberian Tradition in the Bay of Cádiz (Andalucía, Spain)

Abstract

Abstract: The objective of this work is to analyze through documentary and archaeological sources the shipwrecks of the Iberian tradition in the Bay of Cadiz. It supposes the evidence of the commercial redistribution activities between Europe and America that took place in that area of the south of Spain during modern times, in the course of the Carrera de Indias, where ships of Iberian–Atlantic construction played a key role in allowing transoceanic navigation. Nowadays, these historic shipwrecks are part of the Underwater Archaeological Heritage of Andalusia. Its analysis and systematization are the two objectives of the Underwater Archaeology Centre (CAS) of the Institute of Historical Heritage of Andalusia (IAPH), created in 1997 to investigate the Underwater Archaeological and Maritime Cultural Heritage of the Andalusian autonomous community. The research and protection of this heritage has led to the location and scientific study of the two shipwrecks of the Modern Age and Iberian–Atlantic tradition described throughout these pages.