Category: Archaeology

Ancient Skylletium?

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

I was having problems understanding the Italian coverage on this one yesterday (specifically, the architect’s description, which is also in Il Quotidiano), but thankfully it’s appeared in the English press this a.m. … here’s the ANSA coverage:

An amateur scuba diver has discovered what may be the ruins of an ancient city off the coast of Calabria, a local town council said Friday.

Alessandro Ciliberto, an architect with a passion for scuba diving, discovered a group of stone blocks around 3-4 metres under water while he was diving 15 metres from the shore near the town of Squillace on Calabria’s east coast.

”Standing out against the sandy seabed there’s a dark-coloured form of around two metres in length and a metre and a half wide which seems to be man-made,” Ciliberto said.

”Continuing to explore the zone a few metres away, I found a white-coloured plinth half a metre high. Further on, there are a pair of stone blocks, one rectangular and of modest dimensions and the other an undefined shape,” he added.

Squillace town council said it was possible that the ruins belonged to the ancient seaside city of Scylletium, founded when southern Italy was a Greek colony.

The town became a Roman colony in 124 BC and was the birthplace of 6th-century Roman writer and statesman Cassiodorus, who claimed that its founder was legendary Greek king Ulysses.

Ruins from the city have previously been found in the nearby town of Roccelletta di Borgia.

Not sure why ‘city remains’ are assumed here; it might be something associated with a shipwreck …

Berlusconi Hiding Antiquities?

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Okay … this is a bizarre one (to me anyway) in the myriad ways it’s being covered. The Italian Daily l’Espresso has been publishing some ‘sex tapes’ which apparently were made by one of Silvio Belusconi’s paramours, and in one of them, he reveals that there are Phoenician (Punic, more likely … possibly even Greek) remains under one of his villas in Sardinia. Different press outlets are choosing to concentrate on ‘sex’ side, but many are looking at the ‘antiquities’ side as well … here’s excerpts from the Daily Mail coverage:

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s sex tapes are the talk of Italy today – but not because of their racy content.

Instead Italians are outraged at the Prime Minister’s inadvertent boast of 30 ancient tombs buried on his estate – an apparent find of great archaeological significance that should have been reported.

The recordings were made by high class escort Patrizia D’Addario, 42, and even include a conversation allegedly between her and Berlusconi, 72, in which she praises him for his sexual performance.

[…]

But Italians did not seem overly worried about the tapes allegedly detailing their leader’s sexual exploits – until the revelation of the existence of the tombs.

In one transcript published in Italian media yesterday, Berlusconi is heard apparently boasts to Ms D’Addario about the existence of 30 Phoenician tombs, from the 3rd century BC on his Villa Certosa estate on Sardinia where guests have included Tony Blair.

After some small talk about sex – including Berlusconi apparently giving Ms D’Addario some crude sex tips – he then appears to describe how at Villa Certosa there is a ‘fossilised whale and 30 Phoenician tombs from three centuries before Christ.’

Any discovery of historical significance should be reported to the Ministry of Culture in Rome and to the local paramilitary police office in charge of artistic heritage.
Berlusconi’s villa, near Olbia, Sardinia, is nestled in rolling countryside, and allegedly comes with ancient tombs which could further the story of Italy’s history

Berlusconi’s villa, near Olbia, Sardinia, is nestled in rolling countryside, and allegedly comes with ancient tombs which could further the story of Italy’s history

Failure to do so can result in a fine of up to 3,000 Euro and or a year in jail – and it would appear that Berlusconi has not reported the existence of the tombs.

Today Giuseppina Manca di Mores, of Italy’s National Association of Archaeologists, said: ‘If the presence of these 30 previously unknown tombs on Berlusconi’s estate is confirmed it represents a very significant discovery.

‘As an association we are calling for an immediate examination because the historical significance of these tombs is vital to the study of the Phoenician civilization which we know was significant in the Mediterranean.

The remains of a Phoenician city by archaeologists digging in Beirut in 1997. The find was touted as historic – and now archaeologists are concerned that a find of similar historic significance is buried on Berlusconi’s estate

The remains of a Phoenician city by archaeologists digging in Beirut in 1997. The find was touted as historic – and now archaeologists are concerned that a find of similar historic significance is buried on Berlusconi’s estate

‘For years historians have debated whether the nearby town of Olbia was founded by the Greeks or the Phoenicians and these tombs could be the breakthrough needed to provide the answer.

‘Greek artefacts have been discovered already in the area but Phoenician tombs would be a new piece to the puzzle and open up a whole new field of historical research.’
[…]

Today opposition leaders called for an inquiry into the tombs.

[…]

In case you’re wondering, Berlusconi was describing his villa and said, inter alia:

SB: Questa è una balena fossilizzata
SB: Sotto qua abbiamo scoperto 30 tombe fenice … del 300 avanti cristo
SB: Ecco, vedi, questi qua sono i meteoriti. Questi son quelli che mi ha regalato … visti questi qua io sono andato in India … questo qui è il labirinto …. che ti ho detto.

UPDATE (09/25/09): Berlusconi’s lawyer is doing damage control, according to Earthtimes:

Berlusconi’s lawyer, Niccolo Ghedini, has disputed the veracity of the series of tapes that began appearing on left-leaning magazine L’Espresso’s site on Monday.

On Friday he slammed what he said were the latest “unverified reports.”

“Berlusconi would have never spoken of the discovery of 30 Phoenician tombs in his park, because nothing of the sort exists or has been found in the area of Villa Certosa,” Ghedini was quoted as saying by the ANSA news agency.

According to Ghedini, the grounds surrounding Villa Certosa – where Berlusconi often hosts foreign dignitaries – have been inspected by Italian judicial officials in the past.

UPDATE (later the same day): L’Espresso is  now contending that Ghedini is lying: Le ‘tombe fenicie’ esistono, Ghedini le visitò nel 2005 … but L’Unione Sarda claims no one has seen any such ruins: Nessun avviso archeologico di tombe fenicie a Sassari

Ancient Port of Trafalgar

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

I’m hoping we’ll get more on this one, but many of these items reported by ANSA never seem to make it beyond ANSA’s own English coverage:

Searches along the Cadiz coast have led Spanish archaeologist Joaquim Casellas to find the ancient port of Trafalgar, 50 metres below the waves and partly buried at a depth of 15 metres below the sea floor. “This is one of the most important archaeological finds ever in Spain” said the Spanish researcher, who previously discovered some of the new rooms inside the pyramids of Cheops and Giza together with Zahi Hawass. In his research in Andalusia, Casellas has employed the airborne radar survey techniques also used in Egypt. The ruins of the port of Trafalgar, uncovered together with many archaeological finds, date back to a time before the Roman period. As Casellas explained to the press, they could go back to the era of the Phoenicians or even further. The port was found in the area of the Cape which give its name to the historic battle in 1805 in which Napoleon’s dream to conquer Britain was shattered. The site “has a surface of 15 by 3km” according to the archaeologist, “the submerged part is 50m under water, the land part is 15m below the surface.” Thanks to radar survey techniques, Castellas can now reveal that “the port is surrounded by a 30m-high wall,” with “a large-scale geometric layout similar to the pattern found in the ruins of Ampurias,” the Greek-Roman city in the Catalan region of Upper Empordà in Girona. According to the researcher, several buildings were constructed on the port in successive periods. Castellas has used aircrafts equipped with radar in his search, since diving in the area, a protected nature reserve, is not allowed. The radar used in the research can find signs of urbanisation as deep as 400m, and “was designed to survey large land masses with a fine-toothed comb.”The results of the air survey were superimposed on Google maps of area: “They make clear” the archaeologist said “the ancient port is shown in red, which stands out against the surrounding area, shown in green, littered with archaeological relicts and finds.” The method used, according to Castellas, “gives us a much wider and detailed view, enabling us quickly to find valuable archaeological sites at a lower cost per expeditions, which is the most complicated and costly parts of research.” Interest in Spain by marine archaeology has been reawakened in recent years, partly thanks to the find in 2007 of the half a billion dollars worth of golden and silver doubloons by the North American treasure hunting company Odyssey. But Castellas said, referring to the antique port of Trafalgar, that no old relicts or treasure chests will be brought to the surface. “To recover some of the treasures of the ancient civilisations” he explained “we need investments which are only possible with real political interest in archaeology.”

This Google Earth modification from ECD might give you a better idea of the nature of this find:

Roman Shipwrecks of Ventotene

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ 2 Comments

This has finally hit the newswires, it appears … excerpts from the Reuters coverage:

A team of archaeologists using sonar technology to scan the seabed have discovered a “graveyard” of five pristine ancient Roman shipwrecks off the small Italian island of Ventotene.

The trading vessels, dating from the first century BC to the fifth century AD, lie more than 100 meters underwater and are amongst the deepest wrecks discovered in the Mediterranean in recent years, the researchers said on Thursday.

[…]

The vessels were transporting wine from Italy, prized fish sauce from Spain and north Africa, and a mysterious cargo of metal ingots from Italy, possibly to be used in the construction of statues or weaponry.

[…]

Due to their depth, the ships have lain untouched for hundreds of years but Gambin said the increasing popularity of deep water diving posed a threat to the Mediterranean’s archaeological treasures.

“There is a race against time,” he said. “In the next 10 years, there will be an explosion in mixed-gas diving and these sites will be accessible to ordinary treasure hunters.”

A few days ago, the primary researcher on this one (Dr. T. Gambin) posted to Ostia-l a link to the project’s webpage, which includes a very nice photogallery of finds. This sonar image of the set should give a sense of how major this find is (those are individual amphorae):

Aurora Trust Photo
Aurora Trust Photo

Pre Roman Silchester

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

I’m kind of surprised this hasn’t received a lot more media attention: an ongoing dig at Silchester (ancient Calleva Atrebatum) reveals evidence of a planned city with a possible population of 10,000 or more prior to the arrival of the Romans.

Mike Fulford — who has been digging at the site for years — dixit to the BBC, inter alia:

“After 12 summers of excavation we have reached down to the 1st Century AD and are beginning to see the first signs of what we believe to be the Iron Age and earliest Roman town … The discovery of the underlying Iron Age settlement is extremely exciting … While there are traces of settlement beneath Roman Verulamium (today’s St Albans) and Canterbury and close to the site of Roman Colchester, none of these resembles the evidence that we have here at Calleva of a planned town … We now have evidence that the town was burnt down sometime after AD 50 and before AD 80 … The possibility that this was at the hands of Boudicca when leading the largest British uprising during the Roman occupation is hugely significant. It was not thought the revolt passed this way.”

The BBC coverage below includes a very interesting video from the site as well …

FWIW, I can’t resist including this detail which concludes the Guardian‘s coverage:

Recent finds include skeletons of young dogs with marks of flaying – suggesting that among its many flourishing Iron Age industries, Calleva Attrebatum was the centre of a trade in warm fluffy puppy fur cloaks.

… wasn’t aware there was a market for such; I wonder why they didn’t suggest the dogs were being eaten