Ancient wreck full of wine amphorae found off the coast of Sicily

A wonderful discovery by a team of experts from Arpa Sicilia and Soprintendenza del Mare della Regione Siciliana. During a sea day survey, an ROV robot located an ancient wreck full of wine amphorae on the seabed.

At the end of July, searchers found an ancient wreck full of amphorae at a depth of 92 metres, near the town of Isola delle Femmine in Sicily. According to the findings they made, it is a Roman vessel dating back to the second century BC. The ship was of a typically commercial nature and was used to transport wine.

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First photos of the wreck Italian researchers carried out the work using an ROV robot. A remotely operated vehicle equipped with high-precision instrumentation carried out underwater reconnaissance. The main objective of the search was location of archaeological sites located in the depths of the sea.

In Sicily, wine production has been known since protohistoric times. However, it was only with the affirmation of Rome on the Mediterranean political and economic scene that the wine trade became one of the most profitable and widespread activities among the entrepreneurs of the time. This is why we know that Sicily, in the Peloritana area around Messina, produced a very good wine called Mamertino. The beverage became so famous that it attracted the attention of Caesar himself. – Italian archaeologists explain

Italian researchers have also found a second ancient wreck full of amphorae. The vessel rests on the seabed near Ustica, about 30 miles north of Sicily. This discovery was made by archaeologists in May, at a depth of nearly 80 metres.

The diving team was led by an underwater documentalist Riccardo Cingillo i Prof. Timmy Gambin from the University of Malta. They carried out the work in collaboration with Mare Nostrum diving centre in Ustica and the coastguard Guardia di Finanza.

Italy’s Financial Crime Investigation Unit is getting involved in the research because of concerns about the possibility of illegally excavated artefacts from ancient wrecks being traded on the black market.