Scheda Bibliografica (BDG-Biblioteca Digitale del GAK)
| Titolo | Il relitto “Orsi” di Punta Scifo e gli altri carichi naufragati con marmo nel mare di Crotone |
| Autore(i) |
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| Data rilascio | 2020 |
| Contenitore, Titolo | Atti dell'Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei - Notizie degli Scavi di Antichità |
| Riferimenti | Serie IX — Volume XXX-XXXI - Anni 2019-2020 |
| Casa editrice | Bardi Edizioni |
| Tipo | Libro |
" >Sommario
Elena Lattanzi – Indagini archeologiche sottomarine nel Golfo di Crotone dal 1983 al 2005, pp. 99-107
Alice Freschi – Relitto dei marmi di Punta Scifo, Crotone (Cz): relazione preliminare e giornale di scavo 1983, pp. 109-128
Patrizio Pensabene – Il relitto “Orsi” di Punta Scifo e gli altri carichi naufragati con marmo nel mare di Crotone, pp. 129-231
Elena Lattanzi – Una statuetta bronzea raffigurante Eracle e la cerva dal relitto “Orsi” da Punta Scifo (Crotone), pp. 231-236
Rita Auriemma, Alice Freschi – Indagini 1988-1994 tra Capo Rizzuto e Le Castella: strutture e giacimenti sommersi, pp- 237-252
Elena Lattanzi – Appendice I : Trasporto di vetro grezzo: un documento dal relitto di Punta Scifo (Crotone), pp 253-255
Tommaso Tedesco – Appendice II – Il promontorio Lacinio e i promontori Japygi. L’Area Marina protetta “Capo Rizzuto” e le isole leggendarie, pp. 256-265
Abbreviazioni bibliografiche, pp. 267-273
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Abstract
The “Orsi” wreck, found at Punta Scifo, south of Capo Colonna, is one of the most famous evidences of a shipwreck of a Roman cargo vessel. The ship carried a load of marbles for a total weight of about 300 tons.
Underwater investigations, started by Paolo Orsi, date back to the beginning of the last century. Since 1983, the Archaeological Superintendence of Calabria has carried them out again in different stages, along with the exploration of several other wrecks in the area of the promontory of Capo Colonna.
The 1983 excavation journal, edited by Alice Freschi together with the ‘Cooperativa Aquarius’, is published here for the first time. The excavation finds – above all Asian marbles – basins, columns, decorated capitals, all dating back to the III century AD, replicate the typology of the items already published by Paolo Orsi; however, a stretch of the boat’s planking was also recovered, with fragments of floor timbers of the hull of the ancient ship.
New investigations along the southern coast of Capo Colonna, in the bay between Capo Rizzuto and the area off the coast of the castle known as “Le Castella”, were carried out between 1988 and 1994, and implied the review of some earlier archaeological reports. This resulted in the identification of two jetties of a port, remains of stairs, manmade stone blocks and some architectural elements. In the middle of the bay, in front of Capo Piccolo, an archaic Greek wreck was excavated in 1994, which yielded fragments of Corinthian amphorae of the A and B type and fine pottery, all datable within the 6th century BC. Two modern wrecks were also inspected: one, east of Capo Piccolo, was equipped with guns, while the second one carried lead ingots.
The exam of the planking fragments allowed the size of the ship to be assessed (approximately 30 × 9 m), as well as its alternating mortise-and-tenon building technique and position at the bottom of the sea. The origin of the marbles of the cargo, from Phrygian quarries and those of the Proconneso, made it possible to retrace the courses that the ship is likely to have followed. The vessel’s destination was certainly Rome, judging by the number of blocks and columns with quarry inscriptions.
The presence of blocks with leaden seals confirms that at least part of the load was of imperial property.
The article provides also an analysis of one of the most remarkable finds of the shipment. This is a small bronze representing Hercules struggling with the Hind of Ceryneia. Such an iconography dates back to the famous work by Lysippus that was part of the sculptural group of Heracles erected, according to Strabo, in the sanctuary of Alyzeia, in Acarnania, and later transported to Rome and exhibited in the temple of Hercules Musarum or in the temple of Hercules Victor, near the Tiber. The group by Lysippus was to earn great renown in the ancient world and had numerous imitations, even in Roman sarcophagi having a continuous-frieze front.
Finally, the theme of the Promunturium Lacinium and the Promontories known as Japigi, with the legendary islands, is dealt with in a supplement. Today, this geographical area is part of a Protected Marine Area, established in 1991 by the Ministry of the Environment as the “Marine Nature Reserve of Isola Capo Rizzuto”.
The particular richness of the submerged reef derives from the characteristics of the seabed that host particular fish species and flora. Bathygraphic investigations confirm the existence of a group of islands between Capo Colonna and Le Castella, known to Pliny and still remembered in the eighteenth century.