A surprising find was made in Sardinia, in Santa Teresa, on a shallow seabed of the Strait of Bonifacio. It took a really expert and trained eye to identify the lines of aancient Roman iron anchor. Having become one with the bottom of the waters, it will have passed under the gaze of many, unnoticed for many centuries. Its "rest", immersed in the Sardinian sea, it lasted for well 1400 years, up to the intersection with the marine biologist Yuri Donno.

still Roman - Sardinia - Strait of Bonifacio
Sardinia - Strait of Bonifacio

Not just an ancient anchor

It all happened by chance. The expert biologist and diver, with countless dives in Sardinia, was busy in the area of ​​the Strait of Bonifacio to find an engine. A boat had lost him right in that stretch. During the operation, however, he becomes aware of a particular shape on the seabed. What at first glance might have seemed an iron pylon, obviously to be removed, later shows its nature. Donno realizes this after a while and the process for the recovery of this millenary treasure begins. Confirmation was given by the Superintendency and the Carabinieri Protection Unit of Cagliari. A piece of history that comes back to life and, as if that weren't enough, contributes to the discovery of a wreck.

A few hundred meters, in fact, there is a 'boat of the late Roman age, sunk with a load of amphorae of African origin on board. In such cases it is always delicate to intervene. As tempting as it is to display these treasures in a museum, time spent at sea cannot be ignored. The anchor, in fact, will not be exhibited in front of an audience, but rather left there where it was found. It is so fragile that contact with air could disintegrate it.

The finding

The events date back to the end of summer 2020. The biologist Yuri Donno he dived between 10 and 13 meters deep. He had decided to continue his underwater "walk", after identifying the engine of a boat: “I looked in one place and something immediately caught my attention. After realizing it wasn't an iron pylon, my heart started beating fast. It's a bit like when you realize you've found a treasure. That anchor really moved me ”.

discovery of the Roman anchor
discovery of the Roman anchor - photo source La Nuova Sardegna

After marking the spot with the GPS, he alerted Alessandro Porqueddu, underwater archaeologist, who set the authorities in motion: “His intuition was correct. The anchor does not have a typical shape, which could be misleading. It is from the late Roman period. The state of conservation and the archaeological value have been verified. The area was then scanned until a ship was found. Over the course of the last century, the depths of the Strait of Bonifacio have given back numerous testimonies of passages, shelters and tragic shipwrecks which, starting from the Punic and Roman age, confirm both the strategic importance of this stretch of sea, and the dangers for the navigation still existing today: outcropping rocks and impetuous winds ".

An ancient Roman anchor found in Sardinia in the Strait of Bonifacio last edit: 2021-05-22T12:30:00+02:00 da Luca Crowned

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