2,100-Year-Old Roman Shipwreck With 500 Amphorae Found Off Sicily — SkimNews
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- The Roman shipwreck — discovered 3 miles off Mazara del Vallo, Sicily, at a depth of about 46 metres and measuring roughly 21 metres long by 6 metres wide — was investigated by Italy's Carabinieri cultural heritage protection squad after a tip-off from fishers.
- Culture minister Alessandro Giuli called the find "one of the most important underwater archaeological discoveries of recent years," saying the wreck offered "precious fragments of our history" and further evidence of Mediterranean trade routes.
- Most of the cargo consisted of Dressel 1A amphorae, two-handled wine jars the source describes as particularly valuable to archaeologists because they help reconstruct commercial networks linking Italy with other parts of the Mediterranean between the second and first centuries BC.
- Divers Giacomo De Mola and Igor Bisulli located the wreck; De Mola wrote on Instagram that his "heart stopped" upon seeing "a vast expanse of amphorae" below him, calling it "the most incredible discovery of my life."
- Sicily's superintendency of the sea plans further scientific documentation to establish the wreck's date, cargo origin and intended destination, and the condition of surviving material, while drafting protection measures for what officials called a site of exceptional archaeological significance.
- The find is the latest in a string of Roman wrecks in Italian waters — a second-century BC vessel was located off Palermo in 2021, and a 2013 Ligurian discovery of a ship with about 50 amphorae led police to looted antiquities; Italian police recover hundreds of illegally removed Roman amphorae each year.
Why it matters: Dressel 1A amphorae aboard the wreck are prized by archaeologists because, per the source, they help reconstruct Mediterranean commercial networks linking Italy with other parts of the Mediterranean between the second and first centuries BC. Sicily sits on ancient maritime routes connecting Greece, the Middle East, north Africa, and Europe, and the superintendency of the sea plans further documentation and site protection at the wreck.
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