16th International Symposium on Boat & Ship Archaeology

108 16 th International Symposium on Boat & Ship Archaeology Andrea Podestà 1 , Rita Auriemma 2 & Fernando Zongolo 1 1 independent researcher, Italy 2 University of Salento, Department for the cultural heritage, Lecce, Italy The Galea Magna shipwreck. Archaeological evidences and archival sources of a Venetian war galley of 1598 The underwater archaeological site of Torre S. Sabina (Carovigno, Brindisi) is the setting of a pilot intervention within the UnderwaterMuse Project, due to the quality and variety of the contexts in the bay. It is a “super-site”, with stratifica- tions of events that are also significant indicators of the evolution of the coastal landscape: cargos and hulls, but also remains of quarries and settlements. One of the main goals of the last campaign 2020 was to ascertain the iden- tification of various finds brought to the light during the previous ones, since 1998, hypothetically attributed to a Venetian ship; the accurate researches in the Venetian archives and the study of the recovered artifacts allowed us to recognize this finds as the scattered remains of the Galea Magna, that sank at the entrance of the bay on the 1 st January 1598. The archaeological material from the shipwreck includes Venetian glazed pottery fragments, silver coins, glass fragments, weapons, artillery projectiles, iron helmets and metallic finds. It allows making some assumption about sol- diers’ personal equipment (Fanti della Serenissima) and life on board. Between the artifacts there are a long rifle, identified as a “archibuglio da posta” and 23 helmets, “borgognotte” and a “bacinello”. The identification of the shipwreck was confirmed thanks to the correspondence of the Venetian ambassador in Naples, Giovan Carlo Scaramelli, with the Senate of the Republic of Venice. The diverse studies have now been completed and allow us to reconstruct the route from the harbour of Canea to Torre Santa Sabina, to understand the reasons of its sinking and to achieve several information about navigation and life on board Venetian War Galleys of the late 16 th century.