The sunken treasure of the Golfo degli Angeli

There is a treasure on the bottom of the sea of the Golfo degli Angeli , an archaeological museum made up of wrecks, ancient ships, heaps of amphorae and precious pottery. And more powerful woods that the mud and sand have preserved for two thousand and more years. And then shipwreck objects that the shipwrecks overturned under water and the sand then swallowed up, saving them from degradation and from underwater grave robbers always ready to loot.

Phoenicians, Punics, Romans, Aragonese. And English, French, Spanish Angoras. Keels and frames occasionally resurface. Maybe due to a storm that digs the bottom of the coast freeing them. It is then that they are discovered, appear to the view of the divers and become the object of investigation for the investigators of the past, the archaeologists with wetsuits and masks .

Hundreds of dives have allowed archaeo divers to discover them. A great little treasure that still represents a small part of what the casket-sea in front of Cagliari, in front of its port, but also the waters between Capo Teulada and Capo Carbonara guard .

The investigations and the few excavation sites started by the Superintendence were then interrupted due to lack of funds, but despite this the archeosubs managed to collect precious data, clues capable of revealing the secrets of the submerged wrecks , their origins and provenance. Information unearthed among the woods, the wooden frames and keels, the construction techniques of the hulls, but also by investigating the on-board objects resurfaced from the mud or sand, examining the amphorae and containers, even the cannons which in some cases were present in submerged sites.

It is the story that re-emerges from the sea, the same sea that those ships had crossed and which the storms had then wrecked, transforming the sailing ships and merchant ships into wrecks. These also include much more recent boats such as the English ship or the French ones of 1793 of which the Golfo degli Angeli holds several testimonies.

It was 2005 when divers dived close to the Sabaudo pier. Compulsory investigations to verify the presence of archaeological emergencies close to the quay that the Port Authority must modify, expand. It was precisely the Authority that made a shed available, a former foreign goods warehouse, to store any finds which soon re-emerged from the mud and returned to the surface. «A sort of “emergency room” for amphorae, pottery, ceramics that soon filled the shelves and available spaces», recalls the archaeosub Ignazio Sanna . Hundreds of amphorae, ceramic artefacts, coins and many other finds. Over a thousand. A treasure that imposed the modification of the works and the correction of the extension of the Savoyard pier in order not to affect the submerged site which will still have to be thoroughly investigated. In the immediate vicinity other emergencies, another wreck of the Roman era of the fourth century BC.

Northwest of Ichnusa Pier, for example, a 2nd century AD wreck surfaced, while three wrecks resurfaced on the opposite side of the quay dating back to the 2nd century AD and 3rd century BC. Then more discoveries. And then wrecks from the Roman era but also the remains of a Basque ship from the 14th century after Christ . A boat, the latter, which alone could justify important funding for a real excavation campaign. Meanwhile for the rarity. «Of similar wrecks – warns Ignazio Sanna – only three have been found in the entire Mediterranean basin. In addition to that of Cagliari, another one in the sea of Barceloneta and in front of the coasts of Provence».

Even the 17th century English wreck forced the planners to “move” the layout of the outer breakwater of the fishing port under construction at Sant'Elia. The ship had many secrets to reveal . Like the load of slate slabs arranged "knife-wise" in the hold. The finds were examined under a microscope and showed similarities with materials from Northern Spain, although the same slate was also mined in Galicia

and Liguria. Also under the sand is a sextant for ocean navigation and a tiny English-made pipe.

Now a new chapter opens for the finds kept until now in the Molo Sabaudo. The shed was granted to the Navy by the Authority, while other structures already entrusted to the Superintendence have been released in the Su Siccu area.

It will not only be a deposit of archaeological materials but a real open laboratory where the treasure will be kept, recovered and made usable. «In Su Siccu - assures the superintendent Monica Stochino - we will have the possibility of creating a living laboratory-deposit , where the materials can be studied and immediately treated in the event of new recoveries to avoid deterioration, but also made usable by school groups, visitors and tourists".

Underwater archeology will thus become a shared heritage, thanks also to a widespread commitment (as was explained in recent days during a conference on the sea and the city) of the Superintendency, the Authority and the municipal administration.