The Salcombe Cannon wrecksite is close to two other designated wrecksites in the Erme Estuary which the South West Maritime Archaeological Group (SWMAG) was licensed to investigate. In 1992 this group described the Salcombe Cannon site as:

"A cannon site with nothing else visible".

In 1994, following seabed changes, other artifacts

Artifact (archaeology)

An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...

 including gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

 were revealed and the SWMAG began recording the site. Coins

COinS

ContextObjects in Spans, commonly abbreviated COinS, is a method to embed bibliographic metadata in the HTML code of web pages. This allows bibliographic software to publish machine-readable bibliographic items and client reference management software to retrieve bibliographic metadata. The...

 and jewellry dating between 1510 and 1636 have been recovered from the site and were purchased by the British Museum

British Museum

The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...

 in 1998. For two seasons information about the site was initially kept confidential between the Receiver of Wreck

Receiver of Wreck

The Receiver of Wreck is an official who administers law dealing with wreck and salvage in some countries having a British administrative heritage.-Countries having a Receiver of Wreck:...

, the finders and the Archaeological Diving Unit (working for the Advisory Committee on Historic Wreck). The site was designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act in 1997 when news about it was made public.

The vessel is unknown but is dated between 1630 and 1640, and it has yielded the largest ever find of Moroccan

Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

 gold in Europe.

The site has been surveyed and recorded using traditional survey

Surveying

See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...

 methods, magnetometer

Magnetometer

A magnetometer is a measuring instrument used to measure the strength or direction of a magnetic field either produced in the laboratory or existing in nature...

, multi-beam sonar and photo-mosaic

Photomontage

Photomontage is the process and result of making a composite photograph by cutting and joining a number of other photographs. The composite picture was sometimes photographed so that the final image is converted back into a seamless photographic print. A similar method, although one that does not...

.

In 2004, divers working on this site discovered Bronze age

Bronze Age

The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...

 artifacts, including sword

Sword

A sword is a bladed weapon used primarily for cutting or thrusting. The precise definition of the term varies with the historical epoch or the geographical region under consideration...

s, axe

Axe

The axe, or ax, is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood; to harvest timber; as a weapon; and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol...

s, tool

Tool

A tool is a device that can be used to produce an item or achieve a task, but that is not consumed in the process. Informally the word is also used to describe a procedure or process with a specific purpose. Tools that are used in particular fields or activities may have different designations such...

s, and ornaments. The finds date from around the 13th century BC and could be from the same source as the nearby Moor Sands finds. This Salcombe B site has not been separately designated as it lies within the protected area of the Salcombe Cannon site.

Media coverage

• BBC2 Timewatch: White Slaves, Pirate Gold 10 January 2003
• Radio 4:Diving into History January 2002

See also

• Archaeology of shipwrecks
  Archaeology of shipwrecks
  The archaeology of shipwrecks is the field of archaeology specialised in the study and exploration of shipwrecks. Its techniques combine those of archaeology with those of diving....
  
  
• Underwater archaeology
  Underwater archaeology
  Underwater archaeology is archaeology practised underwater. As with all other branches of archaeology it evolved from its roots in pre-history and in the classical era to include sites from the historical and industrial eras...
  
  
• List of designations under the Protection of Wrecks Act