Italian spearfisher and diver Giacomo De Mola discovered the wreck of a 2,000-year-old Roman cargo ship off the coast of Sicily after what he first thought was a rock turned out to be a vast field of ancient amphorae.
De Mola and fellow spearfisher Igor Bisulli were diving off Mazara del Vallo last week when they spotted what appeared to be a rock roughly 40 to 50 metres (131 to 164 feet) below the surface.
De Mola wrote on Instagram that something urged him to check it out, so he took one last breath and went down. Visibility was poor, and he saw a large dark mass that he assumed was just the usual big rock.
He said that as he got closer his heart stopped, because it was not a rock. Beneath him lay an immense expanse of amphorae, hundreds of them that had rested on the seabed for more than 2,000 years, a Roman ship asleep in the silence of the Mediterranean. When he returned to the surface, he told Bisulli he would not believe what was down there.
Carabinieri confirm ancient wreck
The divers notified Sicily's Regional Superintendency for the Sea, which alerted the Carabinieri military police unit responsible for protecting cultural heritage and handling antiquities.
The Carabinieri confirmed the sunken vessel dated to between the 2nd and 1st centuries BC and had been carrying hundreds of clay amphorae used to transport wine and olive oil, Italy's Ministry of Culture said in a post on its website.
Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli wrote that a Roman-era wreck, presumed to date from between the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, was found roughly five kilometres off the coast of Mazara del Vallo at a depth of 46 metres. He said the seabed holds hundreds of amphorae, mostly of the Dressel 1A type, along with two lead anchor stocks and another structure made of the same material.
Giuli described the find as one of the most important underwater archaeological discoveries of recent years. A video released by the ministry shows divers measuring and documenting the site.
Amphorae stacked nearly two metres high
The amphorae were stacked almost two metres (seven feet) high, in a mound stretching more than 20 metres (66 feet) long and six metres (20 feet) wide.
Some of the jars were of a type used in North Africa, and one is an older Neo-Punic amphora, according to the Ministry of Culture.
Giuli said the sea continues to bring precious fragments of history to light, and that the Mazara del Vallo wreck tells of the people, routes and exchanges that made the Mediterranean a crossroads of civilizations. He said research would continue to uncover its story and share it with the public.
What happens next
The site will now undergo further documentation and investigation by the Superintendency for the Sea, aiming for a fuller understanding of its archaeological context and appropriate protection measures, according to a statement from the Carabinieri, who will be responsible for securing the area.
The Carabinieri said the operation to locate the wreck confirmed the importance of collaboration between specialised units and the organisations responsible for protecting cultural heritage, aimed at safeguarding historical evidence preserved on the seabed and returning it to the public.
The waters around Sicily, colonised by the ancient Greeks and later conquered by the Romans around 240 BC, formed one of the most important trade routes of the ancient world.
The Ministry of Culture said the discovery would shed new light on who was sailing those waters at the time.
A ministry spokesperson told CNN there are no plans at this stage to raise the entire wreck, though some artefacts could be brought to the surface for study. The spokesperson said the site could eventually become a dive spot or potentially be salvaged, but that much still needs to be studied regarding the fragility of the archaeological site, and it must be determined whether it had been looted before. For now, the spokesperson said, the ship will remain in place, protected, studied and promoted.
The ministry said the divers will receive special recognition from the Italian state for their discovery.
De Mola wrote on social media that it was hard to describe the feeling of being among the first humans in nearly 20 centuries to see that place again, calling it without doubt the most incredible discovery of his life.
