Late Medieval Helmet Discovered off the Coast of Abandoned Italian Island

Near the Italian island Vendicari, a late Medieval helmet was discovered by underwater archaeologists from the University of Naples, Heritage Daily reported Sunday.

The small, uninhabited island of the southeastern coast of Sicily contains only the ruins of a tuna factory constructed by Baron Modica Munafò in the 19th century. The rest of Vendicari’s cultural heritage lies below the ocean’s surface.

There, nearly 16 and a half feet beneath the water, archaeologists Enzo Morra and Leopoldo Repola found the helmet. Cabassets, as helmets of this kind would have been known at the time, were donned by infantry and light cavalry during the mid-16th and 17th centuries.

The area will undergo further study to see if there are more artifacts waiting to be found beneath the water’s surface. Experts have considered the possibility of a related shipwreck, especially given nearby ruins of the Torre Sveva defensive tower dating to the 15th century. The tower would have defended a small port and warehouses that stored goods for trade.

The honorary inspector for submerged cultural heritage delivered the helmet to the superintendency of the sea for safekeeping.