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RELITTI
The sea of Villasimius preserves a treasure chest of evidence to
suggest that man was present in its waters from the earliest times,
not least the shipwrecks from the Roman period to the present day.
The discoveries from these vessels can be visited thanks to the
“blue” path marked out by the Protected Marine Area.
One of the greatest dangers which sailors faced along the coast
was undoubtedly the Berni Shallows. The abundant ceramic material
found in the them evidences how many ships have been shipwrecked
on these rocks. Among the most significant was the cargo ship which
sank in the third century AD, with its load of Roman pottery, Greek
and Italic amphoras, and the Roman wreck heading for Sicily from
Spain in the first century AD, while transporting construction materials.
The finds from this boat are on exhibition at Villasimius Borough
Museum, together with weapons, cannons and wreckage from another
ship which sank off Cavoli Island, on the way to Spain from Sicily,
while shipping a cargo of decorative materials (azulejos, losetas,
etc) of various sizes, it is thought, to decorate the stately home
of a noble Sicilian family (Beccatelli – family emblem represented
in the azulejos).
nderwater archaeological
finds are quite common along the coast.
In ancient times, Sardinia was considered a strategic point both
for its central position in the Mediterranean sea and for the trade
which was effected in its coastal centres. It was, therefore, an
important destination on any route.
The considerable traffic along the Sardinian coasts and the high
frequency of landings explain the presence of a large amount of
wreckage lying on our sea-bed, evidencing the movement of people
and goods which united the various shores of the Mediterranean.
The wreckage on the sea-bed from Castiadas to Villasimius demonstrates
how active the south coas was. Of course, in this case, it was business
left tragically unfinished because of some unforeseen or foreseeable
happening.
Who knows, for example, where the ship with a cargo of building
materials was heading, which in the first century AD ended its voyage
along the coast of Cala Sinzias, settling on a sandy bed about 30m
deep.
Discovered by the brothers Franco and Ferdinando Calderini, the
wreck was studied and restored by the local authorities. It was
discovered immediately that the materials were of considerable importance,
with, moreover, tiles having a raised border with a palmette-decorated
antefix, and pantiles obviously intended for the covering of a building,
probably public.
Besides tiles, small terracotta bases and amphoras called “cadi”
were found. These were containers with large mouths intended to
hold fruit and were almost certainly produced in Campania in the
C1st AD. The whole find was given the name “The antefix
wreck”. |
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