46 meters below the surface, on the seabed in front of Mazara del Vallothere are still hundreds of amphorae. The wreck that transported them remained there for over two thousand years, until some citizens reported it and subsequent reconnaissance by the Carabinieri and the Superintendence of the Sea. The dating is still preliminary: between the 2nd and 1st centuries BCin the midst of the Roman Republican age.
The site is located about three miles from the Trapani coast and, according to the press release from the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, preserves hundreds of amphorae, mainly Dressel 1Atwo anchor blocks and another lead structure. For now they remain at the bottom: new documentation and study activities are planned, together with the measures necessary to protect the archaeological site.
©Carabinieri Protection of Cultural Heritage
Those amphorae were made to travel with wine
The detail of the Dressel 1A already tells something, although it does not yet allow us to reconstruct the journey of that ship. The Superintendence of the Sea of the Sicilian Region itself, describing finds of the same type found in other contexts, identifies them as wine amphorae datable between the end of the 2nd and the middle of the 1st century BC
Archaeological studies on the typology also place the Dressel 1A in late-Republican Italian production and the wine trade. An archaeological report held by Historic England indicates their production from approximately 130 BC to the mid-1st century BC
This makes the amphorae particularly interesting for dating the wreck and, with more in-depth analysis, could help reconstruct its origin and cargo. However, it has not yet been proven that those from Mazara actually contained wine: the official press release identifies the shape of the containers, without reporting residue analyzes or inscriptions that would already allow us to establish their contents and origin.
©Carabinieri Protection of Cultural Heritage
And it is precisely here that the wreck becomes more interesting than the photographs of the amphorae at the bottom. Such a large cargo, together with the anchors and other elements of the ship, can preserve information on the goods, ports and trade routes that crossed this part of the Mediterranean over twenty centuries ago. However, surveys and studies of the context are needed before assigning to that ship a provenance and destination that we still do not know today.
The discovery started from the reporting of private citizens
The wreck did not come to light during a planned archaeological campaign. They were some private citizens to report their presence. From there began the joint inspection of the Cultural Heritage Protection Unit of Palermo, the Superintendence of the Sea of the Sicilian Region and the Carabinieri Underwater Unit of Messina, with the support of the Carabinieri patrol boat of Trapani.
©Carabinieri Protection of Cultural Heritage
The reconnaissance therefore made it possible to recognize the deposit and propose the first dating. The next step falls above all to the Superintendency of the Sea, which will have to document the site more precisely and define its protection measures. The wreck has been identified, not fully excavated: much of its history is therefore still under 46 meters of water.
The Minister of Culture Alessandro Giuli defined the discovery “one of the most important underwater archaeological discoveries of recent years”. The Ministry of Culture underlines above all the value that the site could have for studying men, routes and exchanges in the ancient Mediterranean. Here too the future is entrusted to the next investigations: the amphorae are hundreds, the answers for now decidedly fewer.
©Carabinieri Protection of Cultural Heritage
Mazara del Vallo, moreover, knows well the archeology that comes from the sea. Over time, the area’s underwater heritage has yielded finds that have become part of Sicilian archaeological history, starting with the famous Dancing Satyr. This time, however, there was an entire context left to read at the bottom. And at 46 meters deep, after more than two thousand years, no one is in any particular hurry to ruin the last page.
