The Barceloneta I and Les Sorres X shipwrecks: from excavation to museumisation

Abstract

The museumisation of the Les Sorres X and Barceloneta I shipwrecks is a unique case across the Mediterranean, an exceptional event due to the lack of excavated medieval ships. Even though the two museums agree on the issue of exhibiting medieval vessels, their museumisation and historical discourse complement each other perfectly; they are the physical and tangible evidence of commercial and port activity in the city of Barcelona in the XIV and XV centuries.

The discourse shows how maritime trade was the main motor of the city’s development from the second half of the XII century, with the trade networks expanding ever further, to Alexandria and Constantinople in the east, and from the end of the XIII century, towards Flanders and England, which were the major routes used by large port merchant ships such as the Barceloneta I. Meanwhile, the Les Sorres X represents the large number of boats and feluccas that, during the Late Middle Ages, formed a dense coastal trade network designed to ensure the redistribution of goods between Catalonia, Valencia and Mallorca.