Exploration for shipwrecks off Sunchi Reef, Goa, west coast of India

Archival records show that a number of ships have sunk int he waters off Go a, on the west coast of India, as a result of foul weather, warfare and hum an error. Explorations were carried out in 1997-9 to locate shipwrecks usin g a boat-towed metal detector and visual surveys in 3 to 9m water depth off Sunchi Reef. A wreck was discovered and its investigation revealed guns, a shot potsherds glass bottle pieces, a broken rudder and dressed granite st one blocks. These finds suggest that the wreck dates from the Portuguese pe riod (seventeenth to eighteenth century AD) and was therefore a wooden-hull ed ship. The most probable cause of the wrecking was the shallow laterite s hoals in the region. Although modest in scope, this project is important as one of the few underwater investigations yet to be undertaken by Indian ar chaeologists.