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Here\u2019s what you\u2019ll learn when you read this story:<\/p>\n
A Sicilian spearfisherman thought he was exploring a large rock when he discovered a Roman-era shipwreck with hundreds of amphorae. Found off the coast of Sicily, the wreck measures 69 feet long and 20 feet wide.The clay amphorae were likely once used to transport wine and olive oil throughout the Mediterranean. <\/p>\n
When spearfisherman Giacomo De Mola descended 150 feet below the water\u2019s surface off the coast of Sicily, he expected to find a large rock. Instead, he discovered an ancient Roman shipwreck<\/a> laden with hundreds of amphorae.<\/p>\n \u201cI moved closer. And my heart stopped. It wasn\u2019t a rock,\u201d he wrote<\/a> in a translated post on Instagram. \u201cThis is, without a doubt, the most incredible discovery<\/a> of my life. It\u2019s hard to describe what it feels like to be among the first humans in nearly 20 centuries to see that place again.\u201d<\/p>\n De Mola surfaced and told his fishing partner he couldn\u2019t imagine what was down there. The duo then alerted the Sicilian Regional Superintendency of the Sea, which brought in the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage. Further exploration brought to light some of the details of the merchant ship\u2019s cargo<\/a>.<\/p>\n The ship stretches 69 feet long and 20 feet wide, according to the BBC<\/a>, and dates to either the first or second century B.C.E. It rests about three miles off the coast of Mazara del Vallo, Sicily, according to a translated statement<\/a> from the command, and has quite the haul of ancient amphorae<\/a>.<\/p>\n The hundreds of amphorae are largely Dressel 1A<\/a>s\u2014a type of tall jug featuring two handles that was popular with Romans\u2014but there are some Lamboglia 2s (which were primary used for shipping wine), a few jugs that likely originated in North Africa, and even older Neo-Punic examples. The collection is so dense that the artifacts<\/a> stack nearly seven feet high over an area over 60 feet long and 20 feet wide, according to a translated statement<\/a> from the Italian Ministry of Culture. The jugs were once key in the transport of wine and olive oil throughout the Mediterranean, and according to De Mola, they now house a thriving underwater museum of sea life.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is one of the most significant underwater archaeological discoveries of recent years,\u201d said Alessandro Giuli, the Italian Minister of Culture. \u201cThe sea continues to give back previous fragments of our history, and the wreck of Mazara del Vallo tells us about these people, the routes, and the trade that made the Mediterranean a crossroads of civilization<\/a>. Research will continue to uncover its story.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s too early to tell the condition of the shipwreck just yet. \u201cThere is no plan now to raise the entire shipwreck but some of the artifacts may be brought up for study,\u201d a ministry spokesperson told<\/a> CNN. \u201cIt may turn into a dive site. It may eventually be raised. There is more to study in terms of the fragility of the wreck site.\u201d<\/p>\n
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