Ancient Granite Quarries on the Bocche di Bonifacio

Abstract

The Bocche di Bonifacio separating Corsica and Sardinia are archaeologically best known for the numerous Roman wrecks which have been identified in their waters; but the granite quarries which exist on both sides of the Straits, although the existence of some of them has long been noted, have never been the subject of detailed study. No less than nine ancient quarries in this area are identifiable. Five are on the headland of Capo Testa in northern Sardinia, 5 km west of the harbour town of S.Teresa di Gallura (2–6 on Fig.2); the rest (Fig.1) are on offshore islands off the Sardinian and Corsican coasts and need a private boat in order to reach them. The importance of Capo Testa as a source of granite in the Roman period is indeed widely acknowledged — it appears, for example, on the map of principal Roman quarries in Gnoli’s fundamental work as well as in Pensabene’s similar list (1)- but Gnoli only dedicated a couple of sentences to it in the text of his book, and monographs on Roman Sardinia also refer to it merely in passing; only Lazzarini in a recent article has paid the granite closer attention (2). A more detailed study of the quarries themselves is clearly long overdue.