Police divers based in Olbia, on the Italian island of Sardinia, have recovered ancient Roman artifacts from the seabed after spotting them during a routine underwater safety operation off the coast of Porto Rotondo.
The Sassari Police Headquarters announced the find in late August. According to the agency, officers first noticed a piece of broken terracotta on the seafloor, which prompted them to return for a second dive. That follow-up dive turned up largely intact vessels, leading the divers to conduct a more thorough search of the surrounding area for additional archaeological material.
“Careful dredging action allowed the identification and subsequent recovery of three intact terracotta artifacts, specifically a transport basin, along with other minor items,” officials said, according to Cover Images, which first reported the discovery. “The artifacts were recorded and made available to the competent Archaeological Superintendent.”
Photos released alongside the announcement show police divers inspecting the seabed and the recovered pottery. One image captures an intact amphora resting in thick seagrass, while another shows a diver examining a large vessel heavily encrusted after centuries underwater.
Amphorae like these were commonly used in the ancient world to transport goods such as wine, olive oil and grain.
Officials said the artifacts appear to date to the transitional period between the fall of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire. “From a preliminary analysis, it is hypothesized that the items may date back to a time frame between the second half of the 1st century B.C. and the 1st century A.D., with a potential origin area that can be linked to Lazio, Campania or the Iberian Peninsula,” officials said, per Cover Images.
Specialists are now expected to examine the vessels further to pin down their precise age and origin, and to determine whether they belong to a larger archaeological site that may hold more undiscovered material.
The find is not an isolated one for Italy. Earlier this year, authorities announced the discovery of a Roman merchant shipwreck still carrying its cargo of amphorae in the Ionian Sea, found off the coast of Apulia during a routine maritime patrol in June 2025. That vessel was dated to the late Imperial era, roughly 284 A.D. to 641 A.D.
