Roman Republic-era shipwreck with hundreds of amphorae found off Sicily

A Roman Republic-era shipwreck carrying approximately 500 amphorae has been discovered off the coast of Sicily. It dates to between the 2nd and 1st centuries B.C.

A report from two spear fishermen led the Carabinieri cultural heritage division and Sicilian heritage officials to the site three nautical miles off the coast of Mazaro del Vallo in western Sicily where divers spotted a field of amphorae at a depth of 46 meters (151 feet). The amphorae are primarily of the Dressel 1A type, large two-handled vessels widely typically used to transport wine in the second and first centuries B.C. They were manufactured in central Italy — Etruria, Lazio and south to Campania — and shipped throughout the Mediterranean trade routes. There are also Lamboglia 2 type from northern Africa, and one Neo-Punic type.

The amphora field is approximately 21 meters (69 feet) long, six meters (19’8″) wide and two meters (6’7″) deep. Divers also located two anchor stocks made of lead and a third lead object that may be part of a lead pipe.

The wreck … was described by Italy’s culture minister, Alessandro Giuli, as “one of the most important underwater archaeological discoveries of recent years”.

Giuli said the wreck offered “precious fragments of our history” and provided further evidence of the trade routes and exchanges that made the Mediterranean “a crossroads of civilisations”. […]

Over the coming months, Sicily’s superintendency of the sea is expected to carry out a new phase of scientific documentation and research at the site. Archaeologists will seek to establish more precisely the date of the wreck, the origin and intended destination of its cargo, and the condition of the surviving material, while also drawing up measures to protect what officials have described as a site of exceptional archaeological significance.

* This article was originally published here