Naufragare sulle Secche di Circe. Primo report sul relitto di epoca classica rinvenuto nelle acque di Ispica (RG)

Abstract

As part of the Kaukana project, conducted in collaboration between the University of Udine and the Superintendence of the Sea, and
with the aim of studying the submerged and coastal landscape of the province of Ragusa, two underwater archaeological campaigns were
conducted on an unpublished wreck from the classical era, which was discovered in the Circe Shoal in the municipality of Ispica.
The investigative process has exposed approximately six meters of the vessel’s hull. The structure is of shell first type, with the
planking assembled using the mortise and tenon technique. The connection with the frames is secured by the use of both wooden
pegs and nails. The initial radiocarbon analysis of the wreck yielded an approximate date range of the 8th-5th century BC.
However, an initial examination of the materials recovered from the wreck, including a fragment of black-figure pottery and an
inscribed salt cellar, has only partially confirmed this initial chronological framework. Consequently, the initial broad range has
been narrowed to the end of the 5th century. On the same Circe Shoals, a few dozen meters away, there are also two distinct anchorages.
One consists of stone elements that can be generically traced back to prehistoric times, while the second consists of inverted
T-shaped iron anchors that are clearly attributable to the so-called Byzantine type.