Archaeometric study of punic amphorae from the underwater recoveries of Pantelleria Island (Sicily).

In the frame of an extensive research project concerning the study of archaeological finds from the sea of Pantelleria Island (Sicily, Italy), about two hundred Punic, Greek-Italic, and Roman amphorae have been examined. In particular, thirty five Punic amphorae belonging to six different typologies of the second century B.C. have been studied. There were probably produced in that Punic-Tunisian area comprising Carthage and other Punic sites nearby the Sahel area. These ceramic artifacts were recovered from shipwrecks dating back to the II century B.C., belonging to a miscellaneous shipload, i.e. associated with Greek-Italic amphorae (second half of the second century B.C.). selected amphorae underwent archaeometric studies which are aimed at identifying their origin, at validating the archaeological hypothesis, at identifying the production technology, and at studying their conservation status. Results obtained allowed to recognize three ceramic-body groups characterized by different relative distributions of grain size fractions. Furthermore chemical composition results show some analogies with sherds from Carthage. Diatoms, algae and bryozoa encrustations have been identified as well, together with surface chromatic alterations (i.e. black areas), probably ascribable to chemical reduction process, due to the activity of sulphur-bacteria