In Porto Cesareo Marine Protected Area, Ionian Sea (province of Lecce), new evidence has been added to the many already known: some spectacular formations made up in a unique way of cemented shards of Tripolitanian amphorae (2nd century AD). They appear to be large concretions of amphora fragments cemented together and to rocky outcrops on the seabed; due to environmental erosion, in six cases they have acquired a distinctive morphology, reminiscent of giant mushrooms, with a reduced base and elongated "hats". The homogeneity of the fragments - all North African amphorae from the province of Tripolitania, classified as Tripolitan II, Bonifay 2004 type B - confirms that they belong to a single ship's cargo of considerable volume, given the number of fragments and the extent of the seabed affected, i.e. an area of around 2-300 m². It therefore seems to have been a "direct" transport from the place of production to the place of consumption: a "supertanker" travelling with a full load of "wholesale" goods, probably heading east towards the ports of the eastern Mediterranean, whose voyage was tragically interrupted at the end of the Ionian crossing between Crotone and Porto Cesareo.
A Tripolitanian cargo in the Salento waters
R. Auriemma
2025-01-01
Abstract
In Porto Cesareo Marine Protected Area, Ionian Sea (province of Lecce), new evidence has been added to the many already known: some spectacular formations made up in a unique way of cemented shards of Tripolitanian amphorae (2nd century AD). They appear to be large concretions of amphora fragments cemented together and to rocky outcrops on the seabed; due to environmental erosion, in six cases they have acquired a distinctive morphology, reminiscent of giant mushrooms, with a reduced base and elongated "hats". The homogeneity of the fragments - all North African amphorae from the province of Tripolitania, classified as Tripolitan II, Bonifay 2004 type B - confirms that they belong to a single ship's cargo of considerable volume, given the number of fragments and the extent of the seabed affected, i.e. an area of around 2-300 m². It therefore seems to have been a "direct" transport from the place of production to the place of consumption: a "supertanker" travelling with a full load of "wholesale" goods, probably heading east towards the ports of the eastern Mediterranean, whose voyage was tragically interrupted at the end of the Ionian crossing between Crotone and Porto Cesareo.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
