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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Análisis de dos clavos y un rodamiento del pecio Bou Ferrer (La Vila-Joiosa, Alicante)

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El pecio Bou Ferrer contiene los restos sumergidos de una nave de comercio romana altoimperial que conserva una parte importante de su arquitectura naval. Analizamos tres objetos de metal procedentes del yacimiento, dos clavos y un hipotético rodamiento de la bomba de achique, para conocer la composición elemental. El resultado ha revelado que los clavos son de cobre y el cojinete de una aleación ternaria de bronce que contiene cobre, estaño y plomo. Este hallazgo abre la posibilidad de investigar el uso especializado del bronce plomado para mejorar el rendimiento mecánico de las bombas de achique en los barcos romanos. The Bou Ferrer wreck contains the underwater remains of a high-empire Roman trade ship. This archaeological site preserves an important part of the naval architecture, so we analyse three metal objects in order to know their elementary composition: two nails and a hypothetical bearing from the bilge pump. The results reveal that both nails are made of copper, clearing up the question about their physical appearance. The bearing is made of bronze, but in a ternary alloy containing lead. The chemical composition is similar to equivalent artifacts from the Ben-Afeli archaeological site. This finding opens up the research of a possible specialized use of leaded bronze to improve the mechanical performance of the bilge pumps on ancient roman ships.