The Oranjemund shipwreck, Namibia. The excavation of sub-Saharan Africa’s oldest discovered wreck
| dc.contributor.author | Werz, Bruno E.J.S. | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-03-03T07:53:49Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-03-03T07:53:49Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2009 | |
| dc.description.abstract | On 1 April 2008, parts of an historic shipwreck were unearthed during diamond-mining operations near Oranjemund, Namibia. Initial investigations undertaken during that same month indicated that it was, most probably, the remnants of an outward-bound Portuguese ship that foundered during the second quarter of the sixteenth century. The Oranjemund shipwreck is the oldest wreck ever found in sub-Saharan Africa and received world-wide attention in the media. After an initial survey was undertaken and a representative sample of artifacts and ecofacts recovered, the site was reburied. Following this, the Namibian Government stepped in and took control of the project. A Second Phase investigation was undertaken under supervision of the author during September and October 2008, resulting in full-scale excavation of the site. This article describes aspects of archaeological fieldwork. | |
| dc.description.department | Historical and Heritage Studies | |
| dc.description.librarian | hj2026 | |
| dc.description.sdg | None | |
| dc.description.uri | https://namibian-studies.com/index.php/JNS/index | |
| dc.identifier.citation | Werz, B.E.J.S. 2009, ‘The Oranjemund shipwreck, Namibia. The excavation of sub-Saharan Africa’s oldest discovered wreck’, Journal of Namibian Studies, vol. 6, pp. 81-106. | |
| dc.identifier.issn | 1863-5954 (print) | |
| dc.identifier.issn | 2197-5523 (online) | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/2263/108719 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | Society of Cultural Studies and Social Sciences, Hong Kong | |
| dc.rights | Society of Cultural Studies and Social Sciences, Hong Kong | |
| dc.subject | Shipwrecks | |
| dc.subject | Oranjemund, Namibia | |
| dc.title | The Oranjemund shipwreck, Namibia. The excavation of sub-Saharan Africa’s oldest discovered wreck | |
| dc.type | Article |
