Los buques a vapor en el litoral de Cádiz: un patrimonio arqueológico subacuático por descubrir

Abstract

The coast of Cadiz has two port areas of vital historical importance due to their natural anchoring conditions and strategic position: the Bays of Cadiz and Algeciras. Both experienced, at the beginning of the 19th century, the replacement of sailing by steamships. All this maritime traffic generated a rich submerged archaeological heritage, which is supported by historical documentation. We will approach from the perspective of documentary sources, especially newspaper sources, the information on shipwrecks of this type of vessel in the waters off the coast of Cadiz. This information has been systematized by the Underwater Archaeology Centre of the Andalusian Historical Heritage Institute using the DOCUSUB Shipwrecks management tool. The results will indicate an index of areas of concentration of shipwrecks by zoning, chronology, nationality, etc. At the same time, they will serve, in some cases, for the correct identification of this type of contemporary heritage submerged in Andalusian waters, etc.