Italian divers found a 2,100-year-old Roman shipwreck beneath 151 feet of water; its cargo still held about 500 wine jars

Off the coast of Sicily, a normal day underwater turned into a history lesson. Giacomo De Mola, an underwater fisherman and free-diver, was spearfishing near Mazara del Vallo when, back on the surface between dives, he noticed something odd on his boat's scanner. It looked like a strange rock. It was not a rock. It was a Roman ship, still holding its cargo of clay wine jars, right where it sank more than 2,000 years ago. This kind of find matters more than it might seem: a 2014 trace-element study of Dressel 1 amphorae from another Republican-era shipwreck in the Journal of Archaeological Science showed that these jars can help reveal a ship's trade route, cargo by cargo.

A rock that turned out to be a time capsule

De Mola was diving about three miles off Mazara del Vallo when he spotted the wreck, sitting about 46 metres, or 151 feet, below the surface. He immediately informed the Sea Superintendency of Sicily, which called in the cultural heritage protection unit of the Carabinieri. Investigators dated the ship to somewhere between the 2nd and 1st century BC, meaning it is roughly 2,100 to 2,200 years old. Alessandro Giuli, Italy’s Culture Minister, called it one of the most important underwater discoveries in recent years. That’s a bold statement, but the numbers support it. There are still hundreds of amphorae, tall clay jars the ancient Romans used to ship goods, piled nearly seven feet high and more than 65 feet long on the seabed.


What was in those jars?

Most of the amphorae discovered can be classified as Dressel 1A type. These were among the most widespread vessels used throughout the Roman world during the last two centuries BC and were specifically designed for the transportation of wine. An analysis conducted in 1985 of the diffusion of Dressel 1 amphorae in northwest Europe mentions that the exports of Italian wines were extending as far as Gaul and Britain by then. The same analysis documented new finds in north-eastern France, the Benelux countries, Germany and Switzerland, while noting a striking absence in 'Germanic' areas, and suggested the trade began in the later second century BC before expanding sharply around the middle of the first century BC, especially into non-maritime Gaul and eastern England.

Moreover, some of the amphorae found could be identified as non-local. There were some amphorae similar to the ones used in North Africa, as well as one vessel that belonged to the Neo-Punic style associated with Carthaginian and Phoenician pottery production. That mix suggests the ship could have picked up cargo from more than one port before it sank, and that a vessel of this scale was likely part of a larger, organized wine trade rather than a one-off delivery, though officials have not yet confirmed a full route.

Why broken pottery gets scientists excited

A pile of old clay jars may seem unremarkable, but it is a major discovery. But amphorae are essentially shipping labels preserved in time. The 2014 Journal of Archaeological Science study titled ‘A trace element study for the provenance attribution of ceramic artefacts: the case of Dressel 1 amphorae from a late-Republican ship’ used laser-based chemical testing to trace the exact clay source of each jar, right down to the region in Italy where it was made. In future, such testing could help researchers identify not only what a ship carried, but also where it began and which ports it visited.

Along with the amphorae, the divers also retrieved two lead anchor stocks and one other lead structural piece from the ship itself. Wood does not usually last 2,000 years underwater, so metal and pottery are often all that remains to show the construction and loading of these vessels.

A tiny piece of a much bigger puzzle

This kind of discovery is not unusual, but the preservation here is rather unusual. The Oxford Roman Economy Project shipwrecks database includes several hundred known sites of shipwrecks from the ancient world. The information about those sites allows scientists to chart how the economic activity of the Romans has changed throughout the centuries, almost like a heartbeat of the ancient economy. Every single site is one more piece of data for the chart, while a find of this scale is especially important.

What happens to the wreck now

For now, the site is off-limits to casual divers. The Sea Superintendency of Sicily plans to document everything using non-destructive techniques before deciding on the next steps, which could include the controlled recovery of some of the artefacts. Officials have not yet released a timeline.

It reminds us that the seabed of the Mediterranean is still full of surprises. A jar that survived a shipwreck, a war, and two millennia of shifting sand is now going to spend its next chapter under careful watch, not at the bottom of someone's kitchen in ancient Rome.