Kaukana Underwater Survey

The Kaukana Project is a close collaboration between the University of Udine and the Sea Superintendence of the Sicilian Region, with the primary objective of studying the submerged and semi-submerged archaeological landscape of the Province of Ragusa. The applied methodology combines ground and aerial surveys along the coast with targeted archaeological investigations on underwater sites. The first marine survey was conducted in 2017 on the Punta Secca wreck, located near the Byzantine site of Kaukana, which gave the entire project its name. The aim of this excavation was to determine whether the wreck was also Byzantine; an examination of the fastenings, the connection system between keel timbers and planking, as well as the finishing of the timbers, however, quickly indicated that the wreck was of a later period. This was confirmed by radiocarbon analyses dating it to the mid-15th century and the early 16th century.

Research continued in 2018 with a coastal survey along the Ragusan coastline toward the ancient Graeco-Roman colony of Kamarina, leading to the discovery of a late-antique anchorage and the Columns Wreck, on which subsequent campaigns in 2019 and 2020 focused. The wreck is named after its main cargo, consisting of a pair of semi-finished columns measuring approximately 80 cm in diameter and about 6 m in length. The hull is connected over a length of 15 m, extending from one end (northwest) to a trait de Jupiter (scarf joint with key) on the keel (southeast). At the fracture points, the mortise and tenon joint system—characteristic of ancient times and atypically secured here by a double set of joints arranged in staggered two parallel rows—was documented. Based on the research, the wreck is interpreted as the remains of a medium-sized ship transporting a mixed cargo originating from North Africa, specifically Tunisia, where the quarries of “Yellow Ancient” at Simitthus are located; the columns were most likely produced there, according to the analyses conducted.

After a pause, activity on the Kaukana Project resumed with a brief survey of the Circe shoal in 2023, located at the opposite end of the Ragusan coast. Three sites were identified here: a group of four stone anchors, another of three iron anchors (Kapitän type C), and an area with wreckage characterized by a concentration of ceramics and a wooden element, which radiocarbon analysis has dated to the 6th–5th centuries BC. The subsequent excavations in 2024 and 2025 at this site documented the remains of a hull built using mortise and tenon construction techniques. Numerous ceramic fragments were also recovered, some diagnostic, such as Punic amphorae of the Mothia type and a small ointment jar with inscribed Greek letters “NAU” on the exterior, as well as a well-preserved hemp rope and a long wooden element that could be interpreted as one of the steering oars. In 2025, reconnaissance was also carried out in the nearby bay of Porto Ulisse (only one mile from the Pantano Longarini site), leading to the identification of two new Roman wrecks.