Egadi Islands

On 10 March 241 BC the last naval battle of the 1st Punic War was fought off Sicily in the Aegates (modern Egadi) Island group. A large debris field on the sea-floor northwest of Levanzo Island is clearly the result of the battle between Rome and Carthage. In a controlled experiment, replica artefacts were dropped into the sea over the battle zone and their movements tracked to reveal certain aspects of the site’s formation. The experiment’s results explain the spatial relationships between some of the artefacts and suggest that many Greco-Italic amphoras may have been filled with grain.

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Osservazioni iconografiche sulle decorazioni a rilievo presenti sulle principali tipologie di rostri navali provenienti dalle ricerche della Soprintendenza del Mare negli alti fondali dele Egadi. Vengono eaminate le figure della Vittoria romana e dell'elmo. Seguirà pubblicazione in tempi brevi.

The paper presents the results of a multianalytical
study carried out through laboratory investigations
on building materials of ‘‘Punta Troia Castle’’ in Marettimo
Island (Sicily). The main aims of the work were to characterize
the petrographic nature and to determine the
geological provenance of the stone materials used to build
the castle as well as to define the causes and mechanisms at
the origin of their decay, in order to support and ensure
greater durability to the restoration interventions. Based on
the collected data, the local dolomitic limestone may be
stated as the main stone for reconstruction purposes. In
fact, this building stone shows low porosity, high compactness
and a very good durability with respect to any
other lithotypes identified in the building structure of the
castle.