Tag: Ventotene

Roman Ships and Amphorae Found off Sardinia and Panarea

Roman ship-discovery season is in full flow, with several finds and explorations announced in the past week.

Yesterday Ansa ran a story about the discovery of a 25-metre merchant ship from the first century AD with its cargo of 500 amphorae containing fruit and vegetables still on board. The ship is said to be in perfect condition and was found south of Panarea, in the group of Aeolian/Lipari islands north of Sicily. The news agency reported that Italy’s Maritime Superintendency and the Aurora Trust, an American foundation, were responsible for the find.

Aurora Trust found five wrecks off the Italian island of Ventotene last year, and in fact finding Roman shipwrecks in the Mediterranean is not a rare occurrence. Several discoveries from 2009, at Ventotene and Cyprus, were reported on Heritage Key, while another company searching off the coast of Campania (Capo Palinuro) earlier this year also found a Roman ship carrying amphorae.

Last week two discoveries were announced off the coast of Sardinia. A Roman merchant ship, dating from around 100 BC, was found off the coast of La Maddalena, an island off the north-eastern coast of Sardinia, while another wreck site has been detected off the north-western coast, near Costa Paradiso.

Fragments of amphorae and bronze nails have been found on the surface and it is archaeologically interesting. However, it’s a very well documented type of archaeological discovery

According to a local newspaper, La Nuova Sardegna, the ships are from between the second century BC and the first century AD.

However, the ‘normality’ of coming across a 2,000-year-old ship in the Med is reiterated by Dr Rubens D’Oriano, an expert in under water archaeology at the Superintendency for Archaeological Heritage for the provinces of Sassari and Nuoro, in Sardinia.

Speaking earlier this week about the discovery of the ancient shipwreck near La Maddalena, he said: Traces of a Roman sailing vessel have been found, which is to say that there are traces on the surface of the sea bed, showing that part of a Roman ship is buried under the sand.

Dr D’Oriano added: Fragments of amphorae and bronze nails have been found on the surface and it is archaeologically interesting. However, it’s a very well documented type of archaeological discovery. He emphasises that the discovery off La Maddalena is nothing out of the ordinary and describes it as completely normal.

When asked if the site may be investigated further or excavated, he is highly sceptical, noting that there is absolutely no funding at all from the Italian state for this type of archaeological site in Sardinia.

The sites were first noticed by amateur divers and were then investigated by archaeologists accompanied by a team of underwater experts from the Carabinieri’s cultural heritage guards in the province of Sassari.

The site off Costa Paradiso is near the town of Trinit d’Agultu e Vignola. Large Roman ceramic vases, known as dolia, from the first century AD have been found at a depth of 50 metres.

Ventotene’s Graveyard of Roman Ships

A team of archaeologists using sonar technology to scan the seabed have discovered a graveyard of five pristine ancient Roman shipwrecks off the small Italian island of Ventotene. The trading vessels, dating from the first century BC to the fifth century AD, lie more than 100 meters underwater and are amongst the deepest wrecks discovered in the Mediterranean in recent years.

Part of an archipelago situated halfway between Rome and Naples on Italys west coast, Ventotene historically served as a place of shelter during rough weather in the Tyrrhenian Sea. The ships appear to have been heading for safe anchorage, but they never made it, said Timmy Gambin, head of archaeology for the Aurora Trust. So in a relatively small area we have five wrecks… a graveyard of ships.

The vessels – all ancient shipwrecks dating back to various phases of the Roman period – were transporting wine from Italy, prized fish sauce from Spain and north Africa, and a mysterious cargo of metal ingots from Italy, possibly to be used in the construction of statues or weaponry. From the project report:

Underwater video from one of the shipwrecks
found at Ventotene:

Carabinieri diver holding up a mortar:

The area surrounding Ventotene surveyed
by the Aurora Trust:

All photographs and video by the Aurora Trust.
You can find more amazing images on their Flickr stream.

A very well preserved shipwreck with cargo of mixed Spanish amphorae from Baetica carrying garum (Roman fish sauce) measuring approximately 15 metres long by 5 metres wide. The height of the amphorae, many if which are still stacked in their original position, is of just over two metres.
A very well preserved shipwreck with cargo of Italian wine amphorae (from Campania) measuring approximately 18 metres long and 5 metres wide. The height of the amphorae, many if which are still stacked in their original position, is of just over two metres.
Shipwreck with mixed cargo of mortaria (mortars) and Italian wine amphorae (from Campania) measuring approximately 13 metres long and 4 metres wide. The height of the mortaria pile is approximately one metre. Some amphorae can be observed emerging from under the pile of mortaria. Although divided into two this site is very well preserved.
Shipwreck with mixed cargo of Italian wine amphorae, glass frit, metal bars and as yet unidentified cylindrical objects. This site measures approximately 20 metres long and 5 metres wide and is relatively flat (not more that 50 cm off the seabed). Although not as complete as the first three sites the objects from this shipwreck are relatively well preserved.

The underwater archaeologists then used the ROVs (Remotely Operated Vehicles) video data to select three of the five sites for deep sea operations aimed at obtaining high resolution video images. Top Italian underwater photographer, Roberto Rinaldi, worked with the AURORA Trust and the Ministero dei beni Culturali and was assisted by dive expert Marco Donato.

In order to better understand the discovered sites it was decided to recover a sample of objects from two of the shipwrecks. In a delicate, well-planned operation supported by a fantastic team of Carabinieri divers, four mortaria were recovered from site 3 and one amphora from site 1. These were transferred to the museum of Ventotene where they will be desalinated, restored and eventually displayed.

The Trust is planning to return to Ventotene in the summer of 2010. It is envisaged that a sub bottom profiler will be deployed over the 5 shipwrecks so as to determine the extent of the site buried in under the sediment. Furthermore, the ROV will be deployed to carry out more photographic recording of the sites and if deemed necessary samples of objects from other sites will be recovered.

In Bija’s earlier blogpost ‘Roman Shipwrecks and Berlusconi Found in Deep Water‘, she quotes Annalisa Zarattini from the Italian Culture Ministry saying that this underwater discovery is part of a wider plan to locate and examine sunken treasures and artefacts before looters can get to them. New sophisticated technology means that underwater probing is increasingly within the reach of private organisations, who may not hand their finds over to the Italian state. Zarattini adds: It’s important that we arrive there first.

Italy Update: Roman Shipwrecks and Berlusconi Found in Deep Water

The Ongoing Silvio Saga

That Berlusconi is involved in a tangled web of political scandal and lurid details about his private life is nothing new. To date he’s been accused of bribery, an impropriety with an under-age girl, as well as involvement with the mafia, all with impunity (which makes me laugh, because in the UK all you need to make an MP resign is the whiff of a dodgy expense claims form). After all, Silvio is not stupid by any means, and at times when a problem has arisen, he has been known to conveniently have a law passed to protect his interests. Head of state not allowed to own private media channels? Not a problem – a change in the law meant that Berlusconi could keep his Mediaset business empire, while also controlling state-run Rai. About to face trial in a case of bribery (in which Tessa Jowell’s estranged husband David Mills was sentenced to four and a half years in an Italian prison)? Again, Silvio didn’t have to worry, he just made himself, as a senior politician, immune from prosecutions. So far it seems that there really hasn’t been anything that could seriously damage Italy’s gaff-making, perma-tanned premier. While it’s fair to say that most Italians find him acutely embarrassing, many admire his ‘spirit of survival’.

Silvio in Deep Water?

So has something finally come along that will topple the PM? Sure, in the past couple of months he’s been accused of hosting parties with topless women in his Sardinian villa (as well as an ex Czech prime minister?) and the non-Silvio-owned papers have questioned his relationship with 18-year-old Noemi Letizia (a pretty, wannabe Italian TV starlet). He was publicly ditched (she wrote a letter to a national news agency) by his wife Veronica Lario, who filed for divorce in May. The latest twist in this torrid tale is that an escort girl, Patrizia D’Addario, 42, has now come up with the ‘Silvio tapes’ (recorded one night at the PM’s Rome residence by D’Addario because she wanted to ‘prove she had been there’). These are hilarious and allegedly record Mr Berlusconi asking said prostitute (whom he denies paying, but that’s a minor detail) to wait for him in ‘Putin’s bed’. Well, I was *almost* starting to feel sorry for the poor old thing (him, not her). He’s suffered enough surely? Let the old dog lie (in whichever prime minister’s bed he chooses). What’s more, while these scandals might be enough to shame most politicians, you can bet Silvio is laughing about it all in private what 72-year-old man wouldn’t see the funny side of a night spent with Ms D’Addario? Berlusconi still seems to have the knack of brushing aside embarrassment or scandal.

But Try Explaining Away 30 Phoenician Tombs…

But there is news just in that could truly land Italy’s prime minister in deep water. It has emerged, as part of the recordings on the Silvio tapes, that 30 Phoenician tombs dating back about 2,300 years have been found on the land surrounding Silvio’s Sardinian Villa Certosa, just north of Olbia in the north-eastern corner of the island (for the voyeuristic, see the villa and its surrounding land here). Officials from Sardinia’s Department of Culture have said that the discovery of these tombs has not been registered – a culpable offence in Italy. If the presence of these tombs is verified they would signify an important new discovery for archaeologists. Berlusconi has already come under criticism for the apparent non-declaration of the alleged archaeological discovery.

Berlusconi has already come under criticism for the apparent non-declaration of the archaeological discovery.

The ancient graves could shed some light on the culture of the Phoenicians, who started to settle on Sardinia in the eighth century BC. It was a convenient stop-off point on their trade routes between the silver and lead mines on the Iberian peninsular and the eastern Mediterranean. However, it is thought that most of the Phoenician towns on Sardinia were on the south-western part of the island. The largest towns include Karalis, Nora, Bithia, Sulcis (on the island of Sant’Antioco), Tharros and Bosa. Tharros was believed by some to be the second most important Phoenician city after Carthage. However, new evidence of settlement on the north-eastern side of the island could be significant and suppression of this information is viewed as illegal in Italy.

Five Shipwrecks Discovered

But Berlusconi isn’t the only thing apparently in deep water this weekend: five Roman trade ships have just been found off the coast of Ventotene, an island between Rome and Naples. The team of divers and underwater archaeologists used sonar and robotic submarines to located the shipwrecks, which have been found in extremely good condition, according to the BBC.

Resting at about 150m below sea level, the five vessels, thought to date from around 100-400 AD, have been protected from strong currents by their depth and position. They sank without capsizing, which means their cargo of olive oil, wine and the ubiquitous fish sauce was undisturbed the terracotta amphorae are still in their original loading position. The vessels sank on one of the main trading routes between Rome and Africa in fact, Africa was a major producer of olive oil during the Roman empire, and was an important exporter to Rome (although most of Rome’s olive oil imports came from Iberia).

The BBC quotes Annalisa Zarattini, from the Italian Culture Ministry, as saying that this underwater discovery is part of a wider plan to locate and examine sunken treasures and artefacts before looters can get to them. New sophisticated technology means that underwater probing is increasingly within the reach of private organisations, who may not hand their finds over to the Italian state. Zarattini says: It’s important that we arrive there first.

In State Hands, or Safe Hands?

Meanwhile, it seems that when it comes to handing archaeological finds over to the state, the one person who should be reminded of this is the prime minister himself. I won’t lose too much sleep worrying about the consequences he may face as a result of his cultural oversight. He can no doubt get his lawyers to plead that he IS the state, and so any Phoenician tombs found at Villa Certosa are already in ‘state’ hands. Besides which, he is immune from prosecution. As with most scandals, Silvio will just shrug this one off too and make light of it in one of his many media outlets.

Photo by Alessio85.