A Roman ship sunk in the Mediterranean, near the island of Sicily (south), in the 3rd century AD, loaded with numerous amphorae, has been recovered with a delicate and precise operation that has allowed it to be refloated and taken to land.
The Sicilian Minister of Culture, Francesco Paolo Scarpinato, celebrated in a statement this maneuver of “extraordinary importance” that represents a milestone in the archeology of the island.
The remains of the ship were found in July 2020 about a hundred meters from the coast of the town of Marausa, near the city of Trapani, just two meters deep.
The ship lay in the place where it sank sometime in the 3rd century AD while carrying numerous amphorae and other objects, as it is believed to be a “money ship” (a cargo ship), dedicated to trade in the Ancient Rome.
Almost two millennia later, the hold, the belly of the boat, remained half-buried on the Sicilian seabed, but has now been able to be raised afloat and transported to dry land.
The first task of the archaeologists was to “excavate” the remains with underwater vacuum cleaners, document the findings and then recover the cargo, among which there are amphorae, baskets, oil lamps and metal objects that must be studied.
Then they began to plan the elevation of the remains, for which it was necessary to first secure them with nets and fabrics that prevented the wood from disintegrating, and then “cage” it in a metal structure.
Later they managed to raise this “cage” to the surface with the ship inside and take it to the port of the city of Marala, to later keep it in its “Baglio Anselmi” Archaeological Museum, where a first conservation treatment has been applied.
The transfer to the museum will take place this Wednesday morning, and at first it will be submerged in a pool of fresh water for desalination and physical consolidation.
The place of discovery, the western coast of Sicily, usually holds surprises, such as the remains of battles such as the Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage or merchant ships sunk on this route, with which the capital of the Empire imported wine or oil from provinces such as Hispania. .
Well, in this area, reference ports were built on the commercial routes of the “Mare Nostrum”, such as the cities of Drepanum (modern Trapani), the island of Mozia, an old Hellenic colony, or Lilibeo, where the current Marsala is located.
Precisely this latest discovery by Marausa has a “twin” brother, another cargo ship discovered in 1999 and kept in the same museum after its recovery, also being key to research on the transportation of Ancient Rome.