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| Wreckage
Underwater 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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