Colombian Archaeologist Reveals Another Treasure of the San Jose Galleon

Last year, Colombian authorities recovered five objects from the San Jose galleon, which lies about 600 meters beneath the Caribbean Sea near Cartagena. The artifacts — a cannon, a porcelain cup and three macuquinas, or colonial-era coins — represent only a small sample of the valuable cargo that sank with the ship more than three centuries ago.

But Colombian historian and archaeologist Ricardo Borrero Londoño has been examining a different part of the San Jose’s legacy: what the ship can reveal about the development of naval architecture and the scientific principles behind Iberian shipbuilding.

Borrero Londoño, who holds a PhD and is a member of the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History (ICANH) and the “Toward the Heart of the San Jose Galleon” project, contributed research on the ship to a new two-volume book examining the technical and intellectual foundations of Iberian shipbuilding.

The San Jose was built in the late 17th century to transport goods and riches from the Americas to Spain. It sank in 1708 after being attacked by a British squadron commanded by Charles Wager while traveling from Portobelo, Panama, toward Cartagena de Indias during the Battle of Baru.

The ship went down carrying gold and silver coins and ingots from the Viceroyalty of Peru, emeralds, Chinese porcelain, glass and ceramic objects, cannons, swords and personal items belonging to its crew.

Rather than focusing on that valuable cargo, Borrero Londoño studied the San Jose’s naval architecture and wooden structures to better understand the principles used to design and build Iberian ships during the period.

Shipbuilding and the development of analytical thought

Borrero Londoño’s research appears in “Brief History of Iberian Ship Conception and Design (1570-1712): The Coordinate System that Preceded Descartes,” a two-volume work examining the technical and intellectual foundations of shipbuilding during the age of the galleon.

The book, available worldwide beginning Sept. 18 through academic publisher Springer Nature, places the development of Iberian ships within the broader scientific revolution.

It argues that Iberian ships were more than instruments of warfare and trade, with their design reflecting sophisticated mathematical and geometric principles that predated the publication of Cartesian geometry.

The first volume examines the conception and design of ships, particularly during the 16th and 17th centuries. It explores how mathematical and philosophical principles were applied to the representation and construction of hulls, masts and other structural components.

The research examines how shipbuilders translated geometric concepts into practical technologies used to construct vessels capable of crossing the Atlantic.

The second volume, which includes the chapter on the San Jose galleon, traces the development of galleons and brings together archaeology, intellectual history, the history of science and technology, and naval engineering.

It also compares structural components found in the small number of 17th-century Iberian shipwrecks that have undergone archaeological research without being extensively looted by treasure hunters.

New insights into the history of shipbuilding

The book “provides a theoretical framework that expands the interpretation of the conception, design and construction of the vessels of the period,” Borrero Londoño said in an ICANH statement.

“Additionally, the subject is approached from its specific and global historical context,” added the historian, who studied at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and earned a master’s degree in anthropology from Universidad de los Andes and a PhD in nautical archaeology from Texas A&M University as a Fulbright scholar.

“The publication shows how ship construction during this historical period was at the pinnacle of the technological inventions of the scientific revolution in Europe,” said Borrero Londoño, whose work specializes in underwater cultural heritage, naval architecture and shipwreck archaeology.

He said systems for accurately representing the curves of ships were already being used in territories controlled by the Habsburg crown before René Descartes published his coordinate system and before modern-style ship plans existed.

Borrero Londoño’s research connects nautical archaeology and naval architecture with the history of mathematics, science and technology. By examining the geometric principles used in ship design, the work explores how knowledge from fields including cosmography, mathematics, philosophy, and craftsmanship contributed to the development of early modern shipbuilding.