Roman shipwreck with 500 amphorae uncovered off Sicily

Archaeologists have located a Roman shipwreck dating to roughly 2,100 years ago about three miles off the coast of Mazara del Vallo in Sicily, at a depth of around 46 metres (151 ft). The wreck, measuring roughly 21 m by 6 m, contained an estimated 500 amphorae, the two-handled ceramic jars used to transport wine.

Italy’s cultural heritage police, the Carabinieri, began the investigation after fishers reported the find. Divers and underwater cameras documented the site, and the vessel was described by Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli as “one of the most important underwater archaeological discoveries of recent years.”

“The wreck offers precious fragments of our history and provides further evidence of the trade routes and exchanges that made the Mediterranean a crossroads of civilisations,” Giuli said.

Divers Giacomo De Mola and Igor Bisulli recounted the moment they first saw the cargo, noting limited visibility but a striking view of the amphorae field below.

Most of the containers are identified as Dressel 1A amphorae, which are valuable to researchers for reconstructing commercial networks linking Italy with other Mediterranean regions between the second and first centuries BC.

Sicily’s superintendency of the sea plans a new phase of scientific documentation and research in the coming months, aiming to pinpoint the wreck’s date, the origin and destination of its cargo, and to devise protection measures for the site, which officials deem of exceptional archaeological importance.

The find follows other notable Roman wrecks discovered in Italian waters, including a second-century BC vessel off Palermo in 2021 and a well-preserved ship off Liguria in 2013, both carrying large numbers of amphorae. The Sicilian seabed is considered one of the Mediterranean’s richest areas for underwater archaeology due to its historic position along ancient maritime routes.