Among the sites damaged by oil-related activities are several archaeological sites in Sicily, where tourism is at risk. So says Sebastiano Tusa, archaeologist and Soprintendente del Mare.
We covered this a few days ago: according to the Legambiente dossier Sporco petrolio – la lunga scia della corruzione, dell'inquinamento e del malaffare, oil and gas extraction in our country is bound up with scandals and crimes. But that is not all. The pollution that has continued for decades in highly sensitive areas of Italy has had a severe impact on tourism and archaeological heritage.
In south-eastern Sicily, in the province of Syracuse, there are several archaeological areas affected to varying degrees by oil. The Legambiente report focuses above all on the site of Thapsos, in the municipality of Priolo Gargallo, where the construction of one of the most heavily used jetties for handling Ragusa crude oil has caused damage and loss of context. We discussed the issue with Sebastiano Tusa, archaeologist and Soprintendente del Mare of Sicily (and the only such figure in Italy), who has long championed tourism over hydrocarbon-related activities in his homeland.
What are archaeologists' concerns?
The site, an indigenous settlement frequented by Mycenaean traders from the thirteenth century BC, is one of the most important in the region: it has an urban plan that closely mirrors Mycenaean courts and a necropolis in which material of great value was found, now held at the Paolo Orsi museum in Syracuse. Unfortunately, Thapsos lies at the heart of one of the largest petrochemical areas in Sicily, so both the air and the sea are highly polluted. Even though excavations stopped long ago and the site is now protected, the loss of context has been enormous.
Does the problem for Sicily's archaeological sites stop there?
Obviously not. The report does not mention it, but near Thapsos there are other sites that are "victims" of pollution from the petrochemical hub. Less than a mile south of the site, for instance, lies a highly significant Hellenistic Greek shipwreck that was carrying a cargo of ivory bound for Syracuse. The initial investigations by underwater archaeologists reveal that the sands and materials recovered from the seabed are saturated with pollutants; the situation is extremely serious.
How is tourism affected in these areas?
Tourism in this area, one of the richest in Sicily from an archaeological standpoint, is virtually non-existent. The petrochemical hub has damaged, for example, the site of the ancient Greek colony of Megara Hyblaea as well, some ten kilometres from Thapsos; the few visitors who go there do so out of personal curiosity or scientific interest, certainly not because the place has been promoted and valorised. Fortunately, Syracuse is nearby — one of the most important tourist destinations in the Mediterranean — and so something is salvaged. But at sites where context has been lost and air quality is poor, tourism suffers heavily too.
