The Underwater Archaeology of Salento. Preliminary Report on Recent Research in the Adriatic and Ionian Seas

A survey has been carried out in several coastal sites of Puglia in 2020–2021 within the UnderwaterMuse project. The activity conducted in the „Le Cesine“ Natural Reserve, on the Adriatic Sea, led to the iden tification of a large port probably from the Augustan period. On the Ionian Sea, furthermore, in Porto Cesareo Marine Protected Area, new evidence has been added to the numerous ones already known, such as spectacular for mations composed of cemented sherds of Tripolitanian amphorae (2nd century AD) and submerged portions of a settlement and necropolis area of the Roman Imperial Period, whose emerged part on the small Belvedere peninsula was already investigated. Already known in the area were the remains of a partially submerged Bronze Age settlement in the locality of Scalo di Furno, as well as the load of marble columns of a navis lapidaria that sunk in the locality of Torre Chianca, and two beached wrecks. These findings are also significant markers of sea-level changes and the evolution of the seascape.