I fondali della baia conservano resti riferibili a vari carichi, depositi stratificati e relitti (5), uno dei quali (T. S. Sabina 1) è stato oggetto di un saggio di scavo nel 2007, rivelandosi un eccezionale unicum per la presenza di elementi dell’opera morta, per la cronologia (inizi IV secolo d.C.) e per i resti del carico nordafricano (v. precedenti relazioni).

Various cargoes, stratified deposits and wrecks (5) lie on the sea floor in the bay. Excavations have been taking place on one of the wrecks, the T. S. Sabina 1, since 2007. It is unique for the presence of elements of the ship’s upperworks, its date (beginning of the 4th century A.D.) and the remains of its North African cargo (see previous reports).

During the course of a survey undertaken in 1996 by the Archaeological Superintendency of Apulia while the wreck was being covered, a new concentration of timbers was identified in the zone next to the ship’s northern flank (50-70 m north), adjacent to the slope of the cliff.
The presence of planking assembled with mortise and tenon joints was documented. The numerous timber fragments scattered in the area, presumably belonging to another wreck, were placed next to the jointed planks (which appeared broken at various points) and it was decided to protect the whole assemblage with a covering of a further six panels of CLS.

The 2011 underwater excavations concentrated on the timber remains attributed to this wreck (Torre S. Sabina 2). The protective covering was removed, and then replaced at the end of the season.
In the northern area, a very few minute fragments of planking, heavily damaged and erratic, were found below a thin layer of sediment and detritus. Several were recovered as evidence of their heavily deteriorated state. In the southern area, various timber fragments, also erratic, were uncovered, together with a large, presumably un-worked timber element, was resting on two fragmentary planks. On one of the planks, the holes for housing wooden dowels were visible in the section and side.
It appeared that these portions, of what has always been presumed to be a single wreck, had been almost completely scattered by the movement of the waves from below, as they were not resting securely on a continuous surface, due to the greater intensity of the environmental energy at this point. The C14 dating of the samples will ascertain the distinctions between these, now almost non-existent remains, and those of the Torre S. Sabina 1 wreck.

While the excavation was underway, a survey was carried out along the west ridge, in area B, as it was necessary to check the state of the deposits at the foot of the scarp following heavy summer storms. This investigation recovered a solid lead horn, with iron nails fixed obliquely into it, perhaps interpretable as a sounding lead, a silver ducat of the Serenissima with the Lion of Venice and S. Giustina, attributable to the period of the rule of the Doge Pasquale Cicogna (1585 to 1595), and the upper part of a Hellenistic Corinthian B amphora.
The northern stretch of the eastern ridge was also surveyed, where an intact two-handled jar was recovered.