Ancient Rome

Wrecks Sardinia Arbatax

The Roman vessel of Arbatax I Century B.C. The Ship of Arbatax was a Roman trade vessel sunk near Capo Bellavista (Arbatax) during the second half of the first Century B.C....

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The Comacchio Wreck

The Roman ship of Comacchio was discovered on the city outskirts near the initial section of the Water Collection Canal, the principal drainage channel of the Valle Ponti basin which was reclaimed between 1919 and 1922... The first clues of the vessel's presence were revealed in the fall of 1980 (signalled by the Comacchio Archaeological Group) whe...

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Wrecks Sardinia of Costa Rey

The Roman vessels of Costa Rey I Century B.C. Two ancient ships have been discovered on the seabottom off Costa Rey: they are both Roman trade vessels, sunk near Punta Santa Giusta (Costa Rey) in different occasions during the first Century B.C....

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Yassiada 7th C. Shipwreck Excavation

During the summers of 1961-64, an expedition of the University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania under the direction of George F. Bass excavated the wreck of a 7th-century Byzantine ship that had struck a reef just off the small coastal island of Yassi Ada located between the Turkish mainland and the Greek island of Kos. The wreck lay at an ...

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Wrecks of Sardinia Mal di Ventre

The Roman vessel of Isola Mal di Ventre ("the thousand ingots wreck") 50-70 B.C. The Ship of Mal di Ventre was a large Roman trade vessel, about 36m long, carrying from Spain an extraordinary cargo of 33 tons of lead ingots (right), engraved with the name of the producer....

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The Porticello Wreck

A 5th Century B.C. Merchantman in Italy. Like the Byzantine ship at Yassi Ada (INA Newsletter Vol. 1, No.2) the Porticello shipwreck was excavated by INA staff members while still working for the University Museum. The wreck, located on the Italian side of the Straits of Messina, near the village of Porticello, was discovered by a local Italian fis...

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Nautical Pompeii Found in Pisa

Pisa is famous for its leaning tower, but archeologists there are now uncovering an amazing fleet of ancient ships, some complete with crew and cargo. The San Rossore train station on the edge of Pisa, Italy, is a lonely stop. Tourists who visit this city to see its famous leaning tower generally use the central station across town. But San Rossore...

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Wrecks Sardinia Spargi

The Roman vessel of Spargi Island II Century B.C. The famous Ship of Spargi was a Roman trade vessel sunk near the Secca Corsara off Spargi Island, probably between 120 and 100 B.C. She carried a cargo of olive oil, of wine in Dressel 1 amphorae (below) and a large amount of Campanian pottery... Some small bronze statuettes (right) have been stolen...

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The Marsala Punic Warship

An exceptional wreck means far more than the sum of its wooden parts; many features of this well preserved after-end of a cargo-less vessel are unique and heavy with implication. Phoenicio-Punic writing is one of them: when first excavated the black calligraphy showed clearly on pine-wood planking that was still yellow, just as the "dunnage" (or le...

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Two Bronze Etruscan Helmets from a Roman Wreck

Two Bronze Helmets of Etruscan Typology from a Roman Wreck, from a Roman Wreck Found at the Les Sorres Anchorage (Gavà -Viladecans, Catalonia). Under Franco's regime, a great number of Catalan archaeological sites were partially or totally spoliated and/or destroyed, the public powers being absolutely unconcerned about this fact. A paradigmatic e...

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