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The Xlendi Bay shipwreck (Gozo, Malta): a petrographic and typological study of an archaic ceramic cargo

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 September 2021

Maxine Anastasi ,
Claudio Capelli ,
Timmy Gambin  and
Jean-Christophe Sourisseau
Maxine Anastasi*
Affiliation:
Department of Classics and Archaeology, University of Malta, Msida, Malta
Claudio Capelli
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, dell'Ambiente e della Vita [DISTAV], Università degli Studi di Genova, Genova, Italy
Timmy Gambin
Affiliation:
Department of Classics and Archaeology, University of Malta, Msida, Malta
Jean-Christophe Sourisseau
Affiliation:
Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, CCJ, Aix-en-Provence, France
*
Corresponding author: Maxine Anastasi, Email: maxine.anastasi@um.edu.mt
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Abstract

An underwater survey off the southwest coast of the island of Gozo revealed a well-preserved shipwreck 110 m below the surface. The site belonged to a previously unknown wreck with a cargo of volcanic millstones and ceramic amphorae dating to the 7th century BC. This article presents the first results of thin-section analysis taken from the pottery objects, and concludes that the ship was carrying a heterogeneous cargo of amphora-borne goods from the Maltese islands, North Tunisia, and possibly Sicily, making it the earliest, known shipwreck in the central Mediterranean; and provides the earliest evidence for Maltese external trade in the central Mediterranean.

حطام سفينة زليندي من قوزو (مالطا ): تحليل بتروغرافي لشحنة خزفية قديمة

ماكسين أناستاسي وآخرون .

كشف مسح لقاع البحر قبالة الساحل الجنوبي الغربي لجزيرة قوزو، عن حطام سفينة محفوظ جيداً على عمق 110 م . تحت السطح البحر . ينتمي الموقع إلى حطام سفينة غير معروف سابقاً مع شحنة من حجارة الأميال من الصخر البركاني و قوارير خزفية تعود إلى القرن السابع قبل الميلاد . تقدم هذه الورقة النتائج الأولى للتحليل المقطعي الرقيق (thin-section analysis) المأخوذ من اللقى الفخارية، وتخلص إلى أن السفينة كانت تحمل شحنة متنوعة من البضائع المنقولة بالقوارير من الجزر المالطية و شمال تونس وربما صقلية، مما يجعلها أقدم حطام سفينة معروف في وسط البحر الأبيض المتوسط ؛ ويقدم أقدم دليل على التجارة المالطية الخارجية في وسط البحر الأبيض .

Type
Part 2: Fieldwork Reports
Information
Libyan Studies , Volume 52 , November 2021 , pp. 166 - 172
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Libyan Studies 2021

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