Several Greco-Italic amphorae urgently extracted from the Fort Royal 1 shipwreck, near the Lérins Islands, have been handed over to the Nice Côte d’Azur archaeology department.
After spending more than two millennia in the waters of the Mediterranean, about thirty amphorae, 2200 years old, have just been secured at the Nice Côte d’Azur metropolitan archaeology department.
These archaeological treasures have escaped the antique looters who have plagued the wreck since its discovery in 2019… sometimes causing some damage.
These amphorae, which were used to transport wine from the Tyrrhenian coast, were urgently brought to the surface at the end of April, following the discovery of a “structured looting operation” of the site by the team of researchers who came to study it. Tools abandoned by the looters were even found on site.
As soon as they were taken out of the sea, the amphorae will now be immersed and desalted for several months to preserve the surface of the ceramic.
They will then be dried and stored in conditions with appropriate humidity and temperature. They could eventually be displayed to the public.
On the judicial side, an investigation is ongoing, handled by the maritime gendarmerie of Marseille. The area has now been closed off to anchoring and navigation by the Mediterranean maritime prefecture.
