Archaeologists Dove to the Bottom of the Mediterranean—and Found a 2,500-Year-Old Shipwreck
Underwater archaeologists dug under 20 feet of sand and rock off the coast of Sicily and found a 2,500-year-old shipwreck.
Researchers date the find to either the fifth or sixth century B.C.
Six additional anchors were found—some made of stone that could be from the prehistoric era.
There's a shipwreck off the coast of Sicily that is so old, researchers aren't even sure what materials were used to make the vessel. Archaeologists discovered the ship buried under 20 feet of sand and rock off the southern tip of Sicily, and believe the find is from either the fifth or sixth century B.C.
The ancient wreck was not alone, either. Just a few feet away, the team found two iron inverted 'T' anchors (likely from the seventh century A.D.), and four stone anchors (likely from the prehistoric era), according to the Sicilian Region's Superintendent of the Sea in a translated statement. One of those stone anchors was broken, and may have featured two wooden flukes to help hold them into the seafloor.
The underwater archaeology project—a joint operation between the Superintendent of the Sea of the Sicilian Region and the Department of Humanistic Studies and Cultural Heritage at the University of Udine—discovered the hull was built with an 'on shell technique,' which is characterized by planking connected joints to give the ship a self-supporting function. The corresponding frame is there just for reinforcement.
'The general condition of the hull, which has long been the object of attack by mollusks that feed on wood, is in fact extremely delicate and requires not only expertise, but also a lot of caution,' Massimo Capulli, professor of underwater and naval archaeology at the University of Udine, said in a translated statement from the university.
Capulli said that the find is especially important because the ship was likely constructed between the periods of archaic and classical Greece—a time when the strategic location of Sicily played a key role in the trade routes of the day.
'We are in fact faced with material evidence of the trade and commerce of a very ancient era,' Capullli said, 'when Greeks and Punics competed for control of the seas, centuries before Rome forcefully overtook the Mediterranean.'
Further investigation into the wreck could prove helpful in uncovering clues about the nautical know-how of the time.
The underwater exploration is part of the Kaukana Project—an effort to research the cultural heritage buried off the coast of Sicily that has been ongoing since 2017.
Francesco Paolo Scarpinato, councilor for cultural heritage and Sicilian identity, called the wreck a 'precious piece of the Sicilian submerged cultural heritage.'
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