WRECK OF CAPO ALFIERI A. IV-V CENTURY A.D.
AMPHORA TYPE KEAY XXV
MUSAS Ref. No.:
CAPCOL-26
Inv. No.
2814/M, 31.08.1995. Donation of G. Cantafora
Description
Fragmentary amphora, type Keay XXV. The neck is preserved, complete with handles and everted rim.
This amphora type may be collocated between the type called “Africana Grande” and the later cylindrical type, always large. This type was popular between the beginning of the IV and the second half of the V century A.D.
It was almost certainly of Tunisian manufacture and it was used for oil and, to a lesser extent, for fish sauce transport (KEAY 1984, pp. 184, 193, 212).
Dimensions
max height cm 25, max width cm 16, mouth diam. cm 9
Materials
Terracotta
Location
Depot, National Archaeological Museum of Capo Colonna
Origin
Wreck of Alfieri A
Dating
4th – first half 5th century B.C.
Biological degradation
On the external and internal surfaces of this fragment of an amphora, there are traces of mixed colonisation, mainly from sedentary Polychaetes, thalli of encrusting red algae and Bryozoans. Algal thalli and other carbonatic structures are in some cases perforated by endolithic boring sponges (Clionidae) whose presence is recognisable by tiny circular holes. There are still some visible traces of epilithic, not encrusting algal thalli of a green-brownish colour.
References
KEAY 1984; MARINO, CORRADO 1996; MEDAGLIA 2010, p. 299, note 301 with references.
REFERENCES
Keay S. J. 1984, Late Roman amphorae in the Western Mediterranean. A typology and economic study: the Catalan evidence, Oxford, British Archaeological Reports International Series.
Marino D.A., Corrado M. 1996, Scoperte lungo il litorale di Crotone, in L’Archeologo Subacqueo 4, p. 7.
Medaglia S. 2010, Carta archeologica della provincia di Crotone: paesaggi storici e insediamenti nella Calabria centro-orientale dalla Preistoria all’Altomedioevo, Ricerche. Collana del Dipartimento di Archeologia e Storia delle Arti, IV, Università della Calabria, Cosenza.
AMPHORA TYPE KEAY LII
MUSAS Ref. No.:
CAPCOL-27
Inv. No.
2814/M. 31.08.1995 Donation of Cantafora
Description
Fragmentary amphora, type Keay LII. Neck with the rim and one handle are preserved. Portion of the shoulder.
Triangular-section, everted rim. Tapered neck that extends from shoulders that should have been attached to a globular or pear-shaped body. Pronounced handles with enlarged ribbons that were set between the neck and the shoulder.
Keay LII (KEAY 1984, fig. 114) is a type of amphorae produced between the IV and the VI-VIII century, certainly in Calabria and Sicily, where its presence in winemaking facilities was confirmed.
Dimensions
max height cm 21, max width cm 18, mouth diam. cm 8
Materials
Terracotta
Location
Depot, National Archaeological Museum of Capo Colonna
Origin
Wreck of Alfieri A
Dating
IV – first half of V century A.D.
Biological degradation
The artefact presents traces of sedentary worms (Polychaeta serpulidae) visible as little whitish tubes and encrusted white or rosy thalli of red algae.
References
MARINO, CORRADO 1996, p. 7; MEDAGLIA 2010, p. 299, note 301 and references.
REFERENCES
Keay S. J. 1984, Late Roman amphorae in the Western Mediterranean. A typology and economic study: the Catalan evidence, Oxford, British Archaeological Reports International Series.
Marino D.A., Corrado M. 1996, Scoperte lungo il litorale di Crotone, in L’Archeologo Subacqueo 4, p. 7.
Medaglia S. 2010, Carta archeologica della provincia di Crotone: paesaggi storici e insediamenti nella Calabria centro-orientale dalla Preistoria all’Altomedioevo, Ricerche IV. Collana del Dipartimento di Archeologia e Storia delle Arti, Università della Calabria, Rossano.
The wreck Alfieri A, located south of the Cape, lies at 400 meters from the coast in shallow waters and was discovered in the mid-1990s by the diver Gino Cantafora. It has returned about 30 fragmentary wine amphoras belonging to the Keay LII type and, in a smaller number, to the Keay XXV B-C type. The former ones, pitched inside, were typically produced in South Italy, while the latter ones in North Africa (1). These artefacts allow for dating the wreck between the IV and the first half of the V century A.D. (2).
The site practically coincides with the one of the wreck Alfieri B, which can be dated back to the Middle Ages.
The data cards of some of the digitised artefacts belonging to this wreck are available on this page.
Wrecks of Capo Alfieri A and B (photo: L. Cantafora, in Medaglia 2010)
NOTES
1 MARINO, CORRADO 1996, p. 7; CORRADO 2001, p. 543 note 56; MEDAGLIA 2008, p. 110-111; MEDAGLIA 2010, p. 299.
2 MEDAGLIA 2008, p. 110-111; MEDAGLIA 2010, p. 299; CORRADO 2016, passim.